Tales from the Fourth Age
by chibimin
Summary: The last days passed by. The old heroes fulfilled their destinies. New heroes come forth with new adventures. What once was, will be again. The story begins right before the Last Battle. AMoL Spoilers.
1. Prologue

A/N: I have deleted A Brown's Story and begun writing a new story. This story will feature characters from A Brown's Story and perhaps I'll use some of its chapters. However, everything has been retconned. Thanks, A Memory of Light. I didn't see that one coming.

* * *

Anastasya Norin held her dead Warder's head, crying her heart out. The rest of his body lay incinerated beneath a heap of dead Trollocs and she yet hadn't been able to summon the strength to dig him out. His blood stained her blue dress, turning the green slashes sickly brown. She had once had long black hair decked with green ribbons and golden bells but the Sharan attacks had burned most of it off, leaving but a few curls that framed her oval face, blotched and dirty. Her blue eyes were red and puffy from crying which wasn't going stop anytime soon. All in all, she didn't feel like an Aes Sedai at all. Her other Warder, Kiril, held his huge hand on her shoulder, mourning with her if not crying. Anton and he had been brothers, and over the years they had pulled her bacon off the skillet countless times. There had been many close calls but never, not once had they thought that it would be Anton who died first. He had always been the careful one while Kiril had always charged ahead, causing grey hairs to Anastasya. But the Sharans did not choose their victims based on recklessness. They just killed whoever they could. Such was the way of war.

"Maybe we should take you to Mayene," Kiril said, still using the plural form he and Anton had always used. "The Yellows, they'll help you. The Amyrlin is there as well..."

Anastasya drew a trembling breath, sniffling. She needed a handkerchief.

"I... I need to keep fighting, Kiril. My Sisters, they are out there. They need me."

She looked up at Kiril who looked grim. It was a scary expression on him, for he, like his brother had been, was a muscular man over two meters tall with wide shoulders. He had black hair, blue eyes and an oval face like Anastasya. She was their grandmother's great-aunt and like their father and his father, they had chosen to serve the White Tower.

"When Seylana Sedai's Rosken died, she did not keep fighting, she gave herself a break. I think you need one too."

Anastanya sniffled some more, hugging her Warder's head. Kiril slowly pried it out of her arms and laid it down on the ground. Not much remained of Anton's face. Sharan channelers had burned him crisp.

"Now, will we carry you to the Grey Sisters or will you walk yourself?"

Anastasya sighed, wiping tears off her cheeks. More replaced them. She wasn't certain that she could stand up, much less walk.

"I think you should carry me."

Kiril nodded and lifted her gently onto his shoulder on which she fit easily. She wasn't even five feet tall and she hardly had any excess flesh on her. He started walking back towards their reinforcements as they were, avoiding open areas. Anastasya tried to keep her eyes open and scan the landscape while _saidar_ kept eluding her. If she saw any Trollocs or enemy channelers, she wouldn't able to do a thing, probably not even shout a warning. Though Kiril was tough, he wasn't tough enough to take on a horde of Trollocs or even a single channeler on his own. Anastasya tried to reclaim some resemblance of Aes Sedai calm, not succeeding very well. The last time she had lost a Warder, Kiril's and Anton's father, well over fifteen years ago, she had been a wreck for several months and the grief had started to lessen only after three years of crying herself to sleep at night. But the Last Battle was raging everywhere around them and she couldn't miss it. That would betray the purpose of her Ajah. But if she couldn't channel at all, she wouldn't be of use. She felt overwhelmingly disappointed and angry at that.

"Kiril, I think I can walk on my own, now," she muttered when they found the Greys' hiding place or command post as they called it. Kiril let her down, placing her on the ground like a porcelain doll. Anastasya took a few wobbling steps, making sure that she hadn't been kidding herself and began striding towards women who were keeping the battlefield connected to Mayene. Some of them turned to regard Anastasya suspiciously as she approached. It was a good time to be paranoid. Anastasya herself still found it hard to believe that the Black Ajah had existed and that some of her acquaintances had been its members. The Amyrlin had purged the White Tower but suspicion still remained.

Kiril remained close to her, trying to keep an eye on everything. Sounds of distant explosions reminded Anastasya that she needed to get back to the battle as soon as she could find _saidar_ again.

"I need to go to Mayene", she said to the Grey Sister in charge, Sienna Vayrin. Sienna had been an Aes Sedai when Anastasya came to the White Tower and she was somewhat stronger, yet there on the battlefield even weak Green Sisters were allowed to demand assistance when they needed it. Anastasya almost considered demanding the Grey Sisters to form a circle with her, just to see what would happen, but right then her grief started to make a full return, her anger and frustration slowly ebbing away. She stifled a sob and turned away from the Greys, trying to appear to be screening her surroundings. Out of the corner of her eye she was Sienna make an uncharacteristic shrug and then channel to open a Gateway to the First's Palace in Mayene. Anastasya hurried through, Kiril at her heels, almost succeeding at keeping her face impassive and Aes Sedai-like. She didn't turn to look at the Grey Sisters again. Their silence spoke in volumes. They knew that she had lost a Warder. They didn't challenge her but rather let her have her way. So very kind of them, she thought sarcastically.

When the Gateway snapped shut behind Anastasya, she fell on her knees and began crying like a child with a broken heart.

She was well aware of hushed voices around her, muffled cries of pain and sorrow. Kiril picked her up, holding her close to his chest and carried her out of the Travelling room.

Anastasya saw Rosil through her tears, asking Kiril about what had happened. For a moment Anastasya felt a terrible stab of jealously. How dare Rosil talk to her Warder without her say-so? She crushed the feeling angrily, knowing it was irrational. Anton's death was like an inflamed wound in her mind. She sobbed again, feeling angry at herself. She should have been there to stop the fireball that set him on fire and distracted him long enough for the Trollocs to kill him.

"Anastasya Sedai says she needs rest," Kiril was saying, sounding grave. His feelings were strangely orderly but then, that was his coping mechanism. Whenever Anastasya had been wounded in the past, Kiril and Anton had swapped personalities, Kiril becoming orderly and calm, Anton worrying and chewing his fingernails. Never again, though. Anton was gone.

Anastasya felt Rosil's gentle hands touch her face, wiping tears away. Delving sank into her body, making her shiver a little.

"She's in a bad shape, though not as bad as some I have seen. I have no free rooms left but perhaps the Amyrlin will put up with some company. This way, Kiril."

Anastasya did not open her eyes before she was laid down on a soft mattress. Rosil was standing beside her bed, looking tired and sad. Kiril knelt on the other side, holding her hand. Anastasya felt her lips tremble. She felt so ashamed and weak. She looked around and saw Mother lying on a wide bed on the other side of the room. She looked so old and worn to be so young. Her face had been cleaned but dirt blotched her arms and tears had made streaks on her pale cheeks. Silviana was standing in the doorway, clearly waiting for Rosil.

"Is she alright? What happened to her?" Anastasya whispered. Word had come that the Amyrlin had retreated to Mayene though no explanation had been given.

"Her Warder died, Anastasya. Young Gawyn got himself killed and probably robbed the battlefield of one of the most capable fighters," Silviana answered, anger in her voice.

Rosil let out a tiny sigh and offered Anastasya a cup of strong brandy. It smelled spiced.

"As you know, it is going to be difficult. You won't be able to channel for some time unless you can overwhelm your emotions with something stronger. I suggest that you stay in bed for a while, let your body rest and try to find something that will get you back to the battlefield. Your Warder will stay here with you unless you order him to go back to fighting. Drink that brandy. It will make you forget for a while."

Anastasya nodded at Rosil's words, tearing up once again.

"Thank you, Rosil," she managed to say and took the brandy. Kiril had to help her to hold the cup as her hands were shaking badly. She downed the whole cup, welcoming the haze that followed it. She saw Mother get up and heard her talk to Silviana and Rosil but couldn't really comprehend the words. Such a strong woman. Losing a Warder could make you completely useless for days, sometimes for weeks, but Mother was already up and about. Anastasya let out a sigh that turned into a hiccoughed sob. Kiril held her hand as she cried herself to sleep.

It was dark when she woke up again. Kiril wasn't nowhere to be seen but she could feel him nearby. She got up slowly, rubbing her eyes that felt grainy. Her head ached and she felt angry. That was better compared to being full of tears and sorrow. She reached for _saidar_ tentatively, keeping her anger icy. When an Aes Sedai lost her Warder for the first time, she usually couldn't master her feelings for months. But then, Anton was her fifth dead Warder and Anastasya had once been a wilder who could only channel when she was already strangling people.

_Saidar_ filled her after a while. She drew in everything she could, more than usual. She was stronger in anger than in calm, and a noticeable amount at that. She would have to find someone to send her back to the battlefield. Weaving a Gateway took a lot out of her for some reason, though the Greys said she was just getting used to the new weave, whatever that meant. She hadn't had difficulties with weaves before.

Anastasya left the room looking for Kiril, who immediately started coming closer. He sensed that she was awake and about, ready to go berserk. She had to avenge Anton. Bloodlust made her smile in a creepy way.

Rosil met her in the hallway, Delved her and sent her to the Travelling grounds with a stern warning not to overwork herself. Anastasya almost gave her a piece of her mind but decided against it. Better save her fire for the Trollocs. Still, Rosil looked almost visibly upset at how Anastasya looked at her, probably like a savage lion glances at a pigeon passing by.

Kiril came to her once Rosil was out of sight, squeezed Anastasya's hand hard and followed her to the Travelling grounds where a young Grey Sister opened a Gateway right in the middle of the battlefield. Anastasya stepped through, readying Fire. It was dark, the time was just before the dawn. She could feel someone channeling a huge amount of _saidar_ somewhere in the Polov Heights to her left. Now that she thought of it, it was probably the Amyrlin Seat who had Vora's sa'angreal with her. Sounds of battle echoed all around her and she followed the nearest source, stoking her rage and hatred against the monsters and Darkfriends that had killed her Anton. She didn't hear herself start screaming in anger nor did she notice when Kiril joined her. She saw Trollocs slaughtering human soldiers, their pleasure obvious, and she saw a few Sharan channelers and soldiers fighting alongside them. Perhaps it would have been more wise to find other Greens and fights with them but Anastasya wanted blood. Her face contorted into a rictus and she started flinging Fire and Earth around, crushing people and monsters alike, nearly not caring if her weaves became friendly fire. Together with Kiril she ripped apart every enemy they could find, howling like crazed beasts, the luck of madmen following them wherever they went.

Later, when her strength started to wane and foes became increasingly hard to find within walking distance, Anastasya allowed her anger to grow less but not become completely extinguished. That way lay grief. Kiril glanced at her, cleaned his sword with a rag and sheathed in with a smooth motion.

"Should we return, Anastasya Sedai?" he asked, looking around restlessly, still good to fight even after several hours. He knew that she didn't have much juice left but still he wanted to go on. Once the beast was released, it would rage and rampage until every enemy was destroyed. Kiril had always been the reckless one.

Anastasya wiped blood and ashes off her face, looking around. They had come quite far from the place where the Grey had dropped them. Perhaps they should find their way back and rest. The battle wasn't done yet.

Just when Anastasya was about to agree to retreat, the constant huge beacon of _saidar_ that had raged in the Polov Heights suddenly reached impossible heights. She whirled around to look into that direction and saw a vast, silent explosion of light about a mile away. It was gone within a few blinks of an eye and so was the beacon. With a sudden chill, Anastasya realised how unlikely it was for a woman to survive such a surge of One Power. The Amyrlin Seat was dead.

"What was that, Anastasya Sedai?" Kiril asked, sensing her fear.

"It was Mother," Anastasya said, proud of her calm voice, "she did something that I hope was necessary. She is most likely dead."

Kiril's face paled just a little. The Greens knew that even though the Amyrlin was headstrong and did not show them much favour, she was one of the best fighters the White Tower had. Losing her was a disaster in several ways.

"We have to find the other Sisters," Anastasya said, her fatigue forgotten, "I have to know if we are going to lose or not. If we are going to lose, it's time to find a place for our last stand. However, if Mother's sacrifice was not in vain, it's time to regroup."

Kiril nodded, looking determined. Though Anton's death burned in Anastasya's mind, it had become secondary for the time being. In some ways, the Amyrlin Seat was the White Tower. Without the Amyrlin Seat, the White Tower would not survive for long.

"Well, there might be some in the ruins where the Caemlyn refugees are," Anastasya said. "We are quite a lot closer to them anyway. I don't fancy walking through a horde of Trollocs and Sharan channelers just to find a surviving Sister or two out there."

Kiril shrugged, almost smiling. He would have walked through the Dark One himself if Anastasya wanted him to. Anton had always been the careful one.

Kiril in her tow, Anastasya set out to find a way across the River Mora. It was flowing again, wild, muddy water rushing past the riverbanks. Trying to swim across was a stupid idea but walking far enough downstream to find the ford would waste their precious time. Something told Anastasya that they didn't have an abundance of it.

"Making a raft would also waste our time, Anastasya Sedai," Kiril said as if reading her thoughts. "If you want to get across without getting wet or drowned, you have to Travel."

Anastasya grimaced. Travelling was her weak point. But then, whatever was necessary...

"Very well. Get ready to catch me if I faint. Last time didn't go so well, remember?"

Kiril made a rude noise with his tongue. Last time Anastasya had had to Travel, he and Anton had both failed to catch her when she got dizzy. As a result, she had fallen over straight into some horse's droppings. The memory made her smile sadly. They had both almost swallowed their tongues out of trying to not laugh while helping her up and apologising. Good times.

Anastasya drew a deep breath and carefully opened herself to _saidar_. Her weariness became a bit more pronounced when she did it and channeling when tired was dangerous business. Even more so when one was doing something that one wasn't so good at.

"Ready, now. I'll open the Gateway on the riverbank. Get us through before I lose _saidar_."

Kiril nodded and hoisted Anastasya onto his shoulder. Anastasya channeled most carefully and with as much precision as she could yet still the weave almost collapsed before forming. It wobbled and resisted her attempts to stabilise it until snapping to completion for a few brief moments. Kiril ran through swiftly before Anastasya had to let go of the weave. It snapped shut behind his heels.

"Well, that was unnecessarily action-packed," Kiril said, letting Anastasya down. Her knees shook a bit and her head felt cloudy. She released _saidar_ and let our the breath that she had been holding. She nodded at Kiril's words.

"I agree completely. The Dark One's touch has made this weave nearly impossible, at least for me. It was bad before but now it actually scared me."

She shuddered visibly, wringing her hands and making a face.

Kiril was about to smile when they both heard Trolloc grunts not very far off.

They exchanged a look. Whatever the beasts were doing here, it wasn't good.

"They are most likely targeting the refugees," Kiril muttered, scanning their surroundings. "Very usual Shadow tactic, that. Hurting the civilians, forcing the soldiers to come to their defence. Nasty and dishonourable."

Anastasya frowned darkly, concentrating. She could feel channeling in the direction of the ruins.

"They have help, it would seem," she muttered back. Trollocs had keen ears and she wasn't in shape to fling fire at them. "But help against Shadow's creatures is always welcome. Let's hurry."

They arrived almost too late. The Trollocs were overwhelming the refugees, murdering them with glee. Children, old men, women, it made no difference to them. Seeing that drove Anastasya almost mad with desire to rip them apart. Not caring that she was too tired to channel safely, she indulged the desire immediately, using Fire and Earth to slaughter the beasts. She could feel Gateways forming nearby and saw a few Sisters step through, accompanied by Asha'man. She didn't let that distract her, however. Trollocs were the enemy. They had killed her Anton. Blood called for blood. It wasn't before the beasts started dropping like flies under weaves that she couldn't see that she realised that her Ability was about to become spent unless she stopped using it for a few hours. Reluctantly she let go and sank on her knees. Kiril was there in a second, though Anastasya thought he was Anton for a few seconds. Her head swam and she could see white spots dancing in her eyes.

"It's time to go, Kiril, Ant-... Kiril. I cannot go on."

"You don't have to, Anastasya Sedai," Kiril said, helping her up and propping her on his shoulder. "The Asha'man and the Aes Sedai with them are taking care of this."

Anastay blinked, looking around. The Trollocs were dead and the refugees were pouring out. They were gathering around one man whom she recognised. Logain Ablar, the leader of the Asha'man. Beside him stood Gabrelle. He said something to them, but whatever that was, Anastasya did not know. Light bathed everything.

She and Kiril looked up. A beam of light pierced the sky in the northern horizon. She couldn't feel any channeling but the way the Asha'man looked towards the beam told her that it had to be massive.

"So it ends," Anastasya said, wonder in her voice. She saw Logain take out three discs out of his pocket. Half white, half black, divided by a sinuous line. He broke them unceremoniously and dropped the pieces to the ground.

"Light shelter us", Kiril muttered, a fervent prayer that Anastasya shared. For a moment, she was afraid.

The beam of light faded slowly and with it the clouds began to disperse, revealing the sun directly above them. Anastasya shaded her eyes with her hand, smiling.

The Last Battle was over. The Dragon Reborn had won.

People began to cheer. Anastasya sat on Kiril's shoulder, observing. People gathered around the Asha'man and Aes Sedai offered teary-eyed praises, thanking Light for them and everything. Anastasya allowed herself a short moment of pride.

"I think we should go ask Lord Ablar if he knows whether there are any Trollocs or Sharans left," she said after the moment.

As it turned out, some pockets of resistance still remained but were being hunted down by the Seanchan soldiers, sul'dam and damane. The way Logain said the last part made it clear that he hated some Seanchan practises just as much as every Aes Sedai.

"Yet the Last Battle is over. We won. We are safe now," he said, satisfaction is his voice. Still, he eyed her suspiciously. He was probably wondering why an Aes Sedai was sitting on her Warder's shoulder and why wouldn't she come down to talk to him. Maybe he thought that she wanted to loom over him. That probably seemed very offensive to him.

"Asha'man are truly among the heroes of this new Age, Sealbreaker," Anastasya said. Logain's eyebrows shot up at the unexpected praise. Anastasya inclined her head like a queen on her throne to a respected quest from an influential foreign country. Logain seemed to understand the meaning, for he relaxed and almost smiled. Cabrelle nodded appreciatively and aimed a tiny smile at Anastasya. Gabrelle was a Brown but that didn't mean that she didn't know anything about men, their egos and how to soothe them, especially when they really were important.

"I will take my leave now, if you please, Sealbreaker," Anastasya said, looking Logain straight into the eye, trying to show that thought she found him worthy, he shouldn't challenge her. Logain just smiled and nodded. What a strange man. He obviously had his issues, especially with the Aes Sedai which was no wonder, and yet he seemed the crave their respect.

"Good new Age to you, ladies, gents," Anastasya said with a smile. Kiril took this as his cue and started walking away, swaying like a giant tree in a storm.

Anastasya let her smile fade. The battle was over. It was time to grieve.

"Let's go find Anton," she said quietly, letting sorrow enter her voice. A bundle of emotions in her head that were Kiril told her that he was finally letting himself mourn.

* * *

Anastasya wandered among the soldiers and refugees that were celebrating the Victory. Grass was turning green and flowers were budding everywhere. After a long time of darkness a summer of plenty had finally come. The sun would set soon but the celebration and mourning all mixed together would not cease for several weeks.

Word had come that the Dragon Reborn was dying.

She and Kiril had found Anton's body and head, burned them and scattered the ashes as was proper.

She didn't feel like celebrating. Kiril had found some other surviving Green Warders and was drinking with them around a large table. They had poured a cup for every dead Warder they knew of, mourning in their own way.

She walked on, observing. Men and women celebrated in the same way, dancing, drinking and eating but mourned differently. Children laughed and ran, playing. They did not mourn, they just celebrated life. Everyone was being taken care of. The Dark One's touch was gone and everything was growing fast. There was plenty of food for the survivors.

That thought turned the corners of her mouth down. Thirty-one Sisters remained of the Green Ajah. Thirty-one out of what had once been almost two hundred. So few.

She was deep in glum thoughts when someone tugged at her sleeve. She took a few moments to register it but when she did, she turned around and was met by a weary-looking Cairhienin woman in rags. Though she looked quite hopeful, she also looked like she had barely survived starvation and hadn't had a good night's sleep in months. Which was very likely. Curiously, the woman had a tiny Ability, not enough to be raised to Accepted but still there.

"Aes Sedai," she said, curtsying clumsily, "I beg you to come to see my sister's daughter. Something happened and... well, you'll see. If you come? Please."

Anastasya considered for a moment. She wasn't much of a Healer but she could at least take the child to a Yellow. She nodded and let the woman lead her to a tent that had been patched many times over and actually looked like it had no original fabric left. The woman kept thanking her over and over again until Anastasya asked her to stop, saying that it was the woman's right to ask for an Aes Sedai's help. The woman looked flabbergasted for a moment but stayed quiet, smiling like a little girl who had been given a puppy.

Inside the tent was hardly dark, the roof was open and there were two candles to give light. In a corner sat a girl in rags. She was tall for her apparent age of about ten years, with long black hair kept in a braid and blue eyes. She was reading a thick book, and was so completely engrossed by it that she didn't notice when Anastasya entered the tent.

Anastasya stood in the tent's doorway for a moment, looking at the child. Whatever was wrong with the girl, it wasn't obvious. Perhaps a broken leg? No. A head trauma? Perhaps. But then she wouldn't be reading, she would be lying down and possibly crying. It took several moments of looking and wondering before Anastasya realised what she was looking at.

A young Sparker.

She could feel the girl's Ability, very tiny and just discovered. Beneath it was her potential which was vast, beyond everything Anastasya had ever seen, even that of Sharina's.

"Hello, child," she finally said. The girl looked up sharply, blinked and got on her feet to curtsy clumsily. She even closed the book and put it down quickly. Perhaps it was Anastasya's dress which made the common people want to do that. "What is your name and how old are you?"

The girl fidgeted a little, looking past Anastasya and trying to avoid her eyes.

"I am Rishy and I am eight."

Anastasya could tell the girl was lying. She was really bad at it, too.

"No, child. That's not correct. Your real name and age now, thank you."

The girl flinched and looked like she was about to bolt. Anastasya stepped closer, trying to smile in a kindly way but probably only succeeded looking predatory.

The girl sniffled a little and shrank to her chair. The book she had been reading was written in the Old Tongue. Anastasya did not allow her eyebrows raise at that, it would have ruined the impression. Still, a child this young reading Old Tongue? Curious.

"I am Erinshane Meloridred and I have just turned thirteen," the girl finally said, sounding truthful. "Aunt Miera put you to this, didn't she? You are an Aes Sedai."

"Now what makes you think of that, Erinshane? Why did you lie? And why did your aunt ask me to take a look at you?"

Anastasya summoned her sternest look that had always intimidated even Kiril and Anton.

Erinshane wilted beneath that gaze and sniffled again. She looked very scared and young.

"You wear the Great Serpent ring. I read about it in a book. Only Aes Sedai and Accepted wear the ring but an Accepted wouldn't be wearing a dress like that."

The girl grew silent and glanced about, like a rabbit looking for an escape route.

"Answer the questions, Erinshane," Anastasya growled, slowly growing annoyed. She wasn't very good with children. This one would probably be traumatised by this encounter. Luckily there were many Yellows who knew how to treat children.

Erinshane let out a little terrified squeak.

"I lied because I didn't want to give you such information. You can use it against me. Aunt Miera saw me do a... thing... and she immediately thought that I need to be taken to the White Tower. But I don't. I know how to train myself. I don't want to be an Aes Sedai. They are not like normal people."

That last remark was a bit offensive in Anastasya's opinion but she decided to let it slide.

"What was this thing you did?"

Erinshane was quiet for a moment, her young face growing solemn.

"When Trollocs attacked the ruins, I was there with my father and mother. My parents are... were... scholars. Father did not have a left leg so he couldn't fight. Mother did not want to leave him behind. The Trollocs came and they... I saw one of them rip my mother's head off and scrape her brains out. The Trolloc looked like it was having the best feast in a long time. My father was just ripped to pieces. I remember that I screamed... and that I wanted the Trollocs to die. Aunt Miera was carrying me away. She was crying and telling me not to look. But I looked. I suddenly felt like the sun was inside me and I did something. I know I did. The Trollocs, they started to die. Their noses and ears and eyes started to bleed. Some just toppled over, thrashing like in horrible pain. Aunt Miera got away and so did many other people. But she knew somehow that it had been me. She asked me about it but I pretended I did not understand. But of course she couldn't leave it at that. She had to go and find an Aes Sedai."

The girl was crying when she stopped talking. Anastasya understood very well why. Seeing one's parents being killed by Trollocs was a really good source of grief and terror. What she did not understand why the girl did not want to come to the White Tower.

"Just how do you think you are going to train yourself, Erinshane?"

Erinshane wiped her nose with her sleeve and lifted her chin proudly.

"I have books that can tell me all about channeling. I don't need Aes Sedai for that."

Anastasya stifled a derisive laughter. She was supposed to express worry, not stoop to the girl's level.

"That is a really, really bad idea, Erinshane," she said. "You are very likely going to die if you try that. Your chances of survival are less than one in four, even if you try it knowingly. Even if you manage to avoid most of the pitfalls, you will one day do something that will either kill you, kill someone else or set the whole place on fire and kill everyone. There are no books that can give you such information that an experienced channeler of your own gender can. You need a teacher. The White Tower can give you one. Put aside your childishness."

Erinshane lifted her chin even higher, looking like she was trying to imitate the Queen of Andor.

"The Aes Sedai did not save my aunt, I did! I don't want to have anything to do with your kind, you just manipulate people and think that you know what is good for everyone! Who was it that thought that it was a great idea to hide the refugees from Caemlyn in those ruins? Probably an Aes Sedai or somebody influenced by one. Aes Sedai say that they don't lie but still they try to mislead people with their words all the time! Aes Sedai walk like they are the Queens of the world even though their purpose is in their name. They should serve everyone, not just themselves. I don't want to be one. I want to train myself, set up my own group of channelers and really help the world."

Anastasya prided herself in restraint when it came to dealing with people. Still, the girl had managed to annoy her, just a little bit.

"The Aes Sedai fought in the Last Battle. Before that, the White Tower helped the world to get prepared for the Last Battle. The White Tower made sure that the world remembered that there would be the Last Battle eventually. An Aes Sedai made sure that the Dragon Reborn was listened to and his wishes were respected. Several Aes Sedai accompanied him to Shayol Ghul. So, I'd say that the Aes Sedai as a whole have been very good servants to everyone. I don't know what some individual Sister has done to you so that you'd hold grudge against every Aes Sedai who ever lived. The thing is, the White Tower really doesn't need you but you need the White Tower. Unless you fancy dying in a gruesome manner, you'll now ask me nicely if I'd take you to our Mistress of Novices. Otherwise, I'll tie you up, put you in a sack and take you to her anyway."

All that she delivered in a flat, calm voice that sounded much more threatening than shouting and screaming ever could. Except for the last part. That came out in a snarl.

The girl bolted and tried to run outside. Anastasya channeled briefly and dragged the girl back inside, a single thread of Air wrapped around the girl's leg.

Anastasya tried to make herself less exasperated but found it very difficult.

"I see that you have chosen the second option. If you have any relatives you'd like to say goodbye to, you should name them now. If you have any possessions that you really must take with you to the White Tower, name them as well. While you contemplate these things, I'll ask your aunt for a nice sack. I'm certain that she will give me one once I have explained this to her."

Miera was still nearby, looking quite aghast. She sighed resignedly when Anastasya asked for a sack large enough for a girl of Erinshane's size but she still went to get one. Meanwhile, despite the girl's protestations, Anastasya collected her books and other items and put them in a smaller sack.

When Miera returned with the sack, Erinshane was sitting on the ground, looking very sulky, weepy and scared at the same time.

"I think she'll do just fine in the White Tower," Miera said after a while. Erinshane shot a nasty glare at the woman, who just smoothed the girl's hair. "Rin has her issues, some of which are unusual for a girl of her age. She's brilliant, though, a genius even. My sister, her mother, used to call her a prodigy."

Anastasya found the situation every moment more absurd. The girl had seen things that could drive a grown woman insane and she was just raging at the Aes Sedai? She knew that she could channel but refused to get an Aes Sedai teacher because an Aes Sedai wasn't there to save her parents? Maybe it was the shock. Maybe it was just human to try to blame someone or something for your loss. Maybe Anastasya was just a convenient target for the girl's grief and rage.

"Now, here's the thing, Erinshane. I really cannot force you come to the White Tower. It's not wise. You'd probably just run away. The White Tower would just retrieve you, of course, and it would be very unpleasant, but they cannot force you to become an Aes Sedai. You can come in and learn enough to survive on your own. After that, you can leave if you really want. How does that sound?"

Erinshane, whose lower lip had been shaking for a while, just nodded.

Anastasya almost let out a relieved sigh. This has turned out to be a lot more trouble than she had expected.

"If I let you go, will you try to run?"

Erinshane shook her head.

Anastasya let her flow of Air dissipate. Erinshane got up and started dusting her clothes.

"Can I... can I have a moment with aunt Miera?" she finally asked, sounding choked. Anastasya nodded and walked out of the tent.

Outside, the sun had set. Stars were coming out. Anastasya breathed in air that felt fresh and even tasty. She hadn't noticed it but during the last few months before the Last Battle the air had started to stagnate.

So, she had found a new novice for the White Tower. This novice would eventually be strong enough to make Sharina's eyes pop.

Anastasya smiled thinly. All of her adult life her purpose had been to be ready for the Last Battle. During the Last Battle, it had been to kill as many enemies as possible and to survive. Now, however...

The Green Ajah wasn't going to have to change as much as the Red Ajah but change was still ahead. What was she going to do with her remaining years?

She wanted to become a wanderer.

The idea was sudden and clear. She would travel between villages, searching for girls with the Ability, teaching people and sharing wisdom. It wasn't ideal. Nothing could compare to the Last Battle. It was something, however. Useful, at least.

After a few minutes Erinshane came out, carrying her books and other items in the small sack.

"I am ready to go, Aes Sedai. I'm sorry for throwing a tantrum in there. I promise I'll be good."

Anastasya nodded graciously and took the girl's hand.

"We are going to Mayene. Don't worry, it's going to be a short walk."

The girl looked at her wide-eyed which satisfied Anastasya greatly. The girl thought she knew a lot about channeling when she did not. Now that Anastasya noticed it, the girl was actually a head and shoulders taller than she was. That was quite unusual for a Cairhienin.

Anastasya performed a short novice exercise before opening herself to _saidar_ and channeling the weave for Skimming. To her surprise, it worked as it was supposed to, though still taking more out of her than it should. Erinshane gasped when the Gateway opened. They stepped through it onto a wide stone platform. The Gateway snapped shut behind them though only Erinshane turned to look. Anastasya kept her patient silence. Better impress the girl now than later.

They stood in silence for several moments, all of them bit awkward. Anastasya wondered if she should have asked Kiril to come along but the man was getting too drunk to think straight and was probably dancing on the table already. Better not trouble him.

The platform stopped and Anastasya channeled the Gateway open. The First's Palace in Mayene was as pleasant as ever, full of the stench of blood, moaning of the wounded and cries of grief. Though battle was done, the world wasn't done with battle.

"Where is Rosil?" Anastasya asked from the first person she could find. It was a young novice who looked very tired. The novice wobbled a bit when she curtseyed and directed Anastasya to the First's personal room.

Rosil looked haggard. She actually had dark circles under her eyes. She was busy writing reports and gathering strength for more Healing. She didn't even look up when Anastasya entered.

"Rosil, I have brought you a new novice. Erinshane, go to introduce yourself. I'll take my leave."

With that, Anastasya slipped out of the room before Rosil or Erinshane could react. She sighed, stretched her back and muttered some unkind things about children in general. She needed a stiff drink. Maybe Kiril and his friends would offer her some.

Afterwards when she was drinking some good ale with Kiril, a couple of Blues and Browns and their Warders, Anastasya wondered for a moment if she had been too mean to the child. It was fairly possible. A battle-hardered soldier often forgot that not everyone had seen enough death to accept it. Her own parents, sisters, brothers, their children, their grandchildren and many of her friends were long dead. She had mourned them but continued her life. The girl had enough strength in her to do the same. Of that, she was certain.

* * *

A small girl slunk in the shadows, avoiding attention. She had dirty dark hair that hid most of her face, dark brown eyes that betrayed no emotion and pale skin that was mostly covered in dried blood and mud. She was a Cairhienin street urchin, born in the twisting alleys of a gatetown outside of the City. Her name was Meira Desandred, she was almost fifteen years old and very hungry.

Bread was to be found inside the City but it went to the citizens and those who could fight for it. The new Queen on the Throne had brought food but it wasn't enough. The weak were dying.

Luckily for Meira, she wasn't weak. She only appeared to be.

In the underworld, it was useful to appear weak, especially for a small girl who looked much younger than she was. The Queen of the Streets said that harming children was bad for the Game.

Meira found her way to a place where she knew bread and soup was being distributed to the people of the City. She found the soup kitchen's back door, slipped inside, froze for a moment when one of the volunteers glanced in her direction and only moved when his confused gaze slid past her and snatched two cups of chunky chicken soup and a couple of warm, meat-filled breads. She crept out of the kitchen, still unseen.

Meira was Lucky. Her Luck made people's eyes miss her. They could hear her if she made enough noise but never see her. She hadn't always been Lucky, though. It had come to her about two years ago when her need for it had been dire. The Aiel had come, set the gatetowns on fire, killed everyone they could find and then set out to starve the rest. Luck had saved her back then. The Aiel checked her hiding place but apparently saw no one. She was able to pass by them unseen and get into the City. Since that day, she had always been Lucky.

Meira hurried back to her base, a stack of hay at end of a narrow alley. The place smelled of urine and blood. She hadn't had time to drag away the bodies of two young men who had tried to steal her food the night before. They hadn't had anything valuable on them and by the look of their wasted frames, they had been starving. Meira pitied their fate but she and her friend had to survive.

Her friend was waiting in the shadows, noticeable to Meira only who knew where to look.

It was a young woman of the same age, a Tairen with black, curly hair that only came to her ears and bright blue eyes that missed nothing.

"I got the food, Siuan," Meira said cheerfully. Siuan came out of her hiding place, smiling eagerly. Meira didn't want her Luck to affect Siuan. She was special. Meira gave her a cup of soup and a bread and together they sat down to eat.

They were an unlikely pair. Meira had been born in a gatetown and grown up there, Siuan Ansadiz had come from the Tairen countryside among the refugees. They met each other one day after the Aiel came. Both knew that survival was nearly impossible alone and decided to trust each other for the time being. Almost two years and several dangerous situations later they had got out of many troubles together and owed their lives to each other many times over. Meira had stopped worrying about Siuan betraying her. There had been several times when it would have been far better for the other girl to just run than to stay and help Meira.

Back when they had met for the first time, Meira had suddenly known that Siuan was Lucky. She hadn't called it that back then, of course, but that didn't matter. She just knew that the other girl had something special.

Meira had waited for several weeks before asking Siuan about it. The other girl had confessed after a few days that she could do some weird things like climbing up walls that were completely smooth and even leaned outward a bit, seeing in the dark and hearing people talking even when they were several walls away from Siuan.

Meira had confessed in return that people couldn't see her unless she wanted them to.

They didn't believe each other before they saw proof. Siuan really could climb up anything. When Meira had wished that Siuan couldn't see her, the other girl had gasped out loud and exclaimed that she really couldn't see Meira anymore. They had called each other lucky and the name had stuck. They were known as the Lucky Girls in the underworld though not many knew who they really were.

Meira liked it that way. The Queen of Streets used everyone and she'd love to use someone like Meira or Siuan.

Meira wolfed down her food. The Queen on the Throne brought food to the City and that was good. Everything else was dangerous to eat. A piece of bread might look alright but take one bite and it would suddenly rot in your hands or turn into flesh-devouring weevils. It wasn't the weirdest thing, however. Everything had turned from bad to worse during the last few months.

People whispered that the Last Battle was coming. Some actually shouted it. Armies were gathering and the Queen on the Throne was going to lead them to the glory and victory. Some said that the others were mistaken, that the Last Battle wasn't going to come. Yet one only had to look at the ever-overcast sky, rotting food that might try to eat you, strange visions and stranger deaths to know that the time had come.

Meira swallowed the last piece of bread, deep in thought. She didn't like the idea of the Last Battle. It sounded very difficult to survive. The City was already full of people and more came in every day. The Queen on the Throne brought in good food now but that wasn't going to last forever. The Queen on the Throne wasn't the Creator. She couldn't fight the Gamebreaker's touch for long. That was the Cairhienin underworld name for the Dark One.

"I've been thinking," Siuan said suddenly, her mouth full of bread. It was her bad habit, talking with her mouth full. "This idea, it is not very good, keep that in mind. However. Remember what they say about the Queen on the Throne? That she has special powers? That she's an... Aes Sedai?"

Meira nodded, wondering what Siuan was getting at.

"Well, what made me think was that thing about her powers being special. Wouldn't you say that our powers are special?"

Meira made a non-committal noise, worried that she had realised what Siuan was hinting at.

"So, what if our powers are just like that? What if we can be Aes Sedai? Maybe we should go find one and ask if we are like them."

Meira tried not to swallow her tongue.

Siuan lacked what was widely known as common sense. She was very good at hiding but she didn't often bother to think things through. Her Luck was a gift straight from the Creator.

"One does not simply find an Aes Sedai. Nor does one simply ask them anything," Meira managed to say, trying not to sound terrified.

Aes Sedai were creatures of myth. Meira had never seen one though she had heard stories. Some said that they had pure white wings and carried glowing swords that they used to smite evil. Others said that they all had a third eye and that eye saw through time and space. Yet others said that the Aes Sedai were all servants of the Dark One and their White Tower wasn't white at all, it was blacker than the night and sucked souls out of people.

"Well, I heard a couple of soldiers talking this morning," Siuan said, her mouth now empty, "they were saying that the King's Women are in the City and that they are going to take soldiers to the Feelds of Meerrillor. I don't know where that is but it must be far away. These King's Women, they are probably Aes Sedai. I bet that they are still in the Palace."

Meira shook her head vigourously.

"That is definitely a not very good idea, Siuan. Getting into the Palace is stupidly hard, even for you and me."

Siuan frowned, leaned close to Meira's face and started glaring her straight into the eye. Meira glared back, trying not to blink. It was their way of solving a disagreement.

"Let's do this, chirp," Siuan whispered, using her nickname for Meira, "this is our chance. A better life. Good food. Sleeping in a bed. You and me, we are up to this."

Siuan was using a dirty tactic, making the air move towards Meira's eyes and making them water. Meira fought back, buffing at her friend's eyes unabashedly.

"I'm not going to do such a stupid thing. If we get caught, the guards will probably kill us first and then ask questions."

"Only if they catch us first. If we find these King's Women and they take us under their wing, the guards cannot do anything to us. Think of the challenge, chirpy Meira, think of the reward..."

Meira blinked rapidly and cursed, she had lost the competition. Siuan got up smiling victoriously, stretched and began collecting their meagre possessions.

"Alright, Siuan, we'll try. Did the guards say when the King's Women are leaving?"

Siuan put her brush and little booklet in her pocket and turned to help Meira up.

"Tomorrow night, they said. I say that we get in today. No time like the present, chirp."

Meira sighed resignedly, took her important belongings which were a small, pretty stone that had a bluish shine and an ivory comb she had stolen from a real noblewoman a long time ago.

"Okay, let's play the Game, then."

Finding a place where to take a look at the Palace was relatively easy. The hard part was remaining unseen. The proper Cairhienin people didn't want the likes of Meira and Siuan in their pretty inner City.

But they managed to dodge every last guard that they saw, Meira by wanting not to be seen and Siuan by slinking across the rooftops. It was dark anyway, with the ever-present cloud-cover.

They sat on the rooftop of the building that was closest to the Palace. From their vantage point they could see soldiers that had gathered in the courtyard. They were passing through some sort of window that was hanging in the air and disappearing. Meira shivered. She could see three women in fine clothing standing beside the window in the air, appearing to be observing the soldiers and having an idle conversation. Like with Siuan a long time ago, she suddenly realised that they were Lucky. Well, Siuan had been right about that one, at least.

"Do you think those are the King's Women?" Meira whispered, pointing towards the women. Siuan nodded, grinning. Meira didn't see anything worth grinning in their situation. Even if those women were Aes Sedai, getting to them through the soldiers was going to stretch their Luck. Her Luck. Siuan couldn't make herself invisible.

"So, Meira, you creep in, find a King's Woman and ask her if she's an Aes Sedai. If she is one, you ask her if you can be an Aes Sedai too. If she's not, you ask her where to find one. Simple, right? Then when you find a King's Woman who is an Aes Sedai or knows where to find one, you tell her that you have a friend who wants to come as well."

Meira swallowed and shook her head.

"That plan is stupid. How about this? I steal a couple of uniforms and we get in wearing those. Some of those soldiers are little more than boys. Nobody would notice us."

Siuan opened and closed her mouth a couple of times but no sound came out. Her eyes shone with excitement.

"That's a brilliant plan, chirp! Let's do it."

And that was how Meira found herself trying to march along with soldiers who weren't yet giving her weird looks, probably because she was keeping herself invisible from everyone else but Siuan reflexively. Siuan radiated cheeriness beneath her ill-fitting headpiece. The company they were in comprised of the freshest recruits from the City and nobody was really expecting them to know how move their legs properly. That was a relief. A group of veterans would have been really hard to infiltrate.

"Mere," Siuan whispered, using a name that sounded like it belonged to a boy, "those King's Women are looking at us and frowning. Are you keeping yourself invisible from the other people?"

Meira nodded slowly and turned to look at the women. They were frowning, alright. They were also having a heated whispered conversation. Not good.

"I think it's time to either abort our mission or just accept our fate, Shawn. Something is not right. They can see me."

Panic welled up inside Meira. Getting inside the Palace and finding an Aes Sedai had been a stupid, relatively desperate and random idea. Suddenly she remembered all of the awful stories about the Aes Sedai and didn't want to get any closer to the King's Women.

"Let's run, Siuan," she whispered, close to tears. The King's Women called out and told the company to stop. "We must, right now."

Siuan shook her head slowly, looking aghast. The gates were closing. Meira wouldn't be able to get out even if Siuan managed to escape.

"Siuan, just run. I can get out of here myself. I promise."

Siuan still shook her head. The King's Women were walking towards them, their eyes boring into Meira. Meira felt like her stomach had dropped to her knees. This was going to go wrong on so many levels.

* * *

Kinswoman Sarenna Zakura frowned at the soldiers pouring into the courtyard. Beside her were Meylin Sirowa and Ferenea Thul, Kinswomen both. They had been chosen by Queen Elayne to make sure that all of the able-bodied willing fighters in Cairhien were sent to the Fields of Merrilor. On their own they were too weak to open a proper Gateway but linked they could form one big enough to let several men pass through at once. Meylin was leading as usual.

Sarenna was a short woman like her companions. She had long, golden hair that was more trouble than it was worth, always getting in her way, and dark brown eyes that had some green in them. Meylin had black hair and grey eyes. Her arms were covered in thin scars that Sarenna suspected were self-inflicted. Meylin had always had anxiety issues though she was bossy enough to hide them. Ferenea had very dark skin and several piercings. She had cut her hair short, muttering something about being a soldier first, a woman second. Sarenna had not bothered to find out more.

Sarenna turned her attention back to the newest patch of soldiers. Most of them were too young but the Queen needed all the soldiers she could get. If they lost the Last Battle, these youths would die anyway. That was if they were lucky. The Dark One would probably chew on their souls for several millennia.

Something was bugging her. It was like a buzz in her ear, an irritating fly that just wouldn't take the hint and die. She associated that feeling with several things, most of them hints from the reality, Creator or whatever that something interesting was about to happen and she had better pay attention to it. It was her Talent.

What was about to happen?

"Sarenna," Meylin hissed, "one of the soldiers is channeling. I cannot see her well but I know where she is. She is wearing one the most impressive weaves of Folded Light I have ever seen. Action?"

Once Meylin said it, Sarenna realised that she could indeed sense weak channeling among the soldiers that were marching past her. She searched the crowd, trying to pinpoint the source of it. Her gaze passed over a small Cairhienin girl twice before she could focus on her. Being able to channel _saidar_ herself, she could see through the weave just fine but still she had difficulties with noticing it. Impressive indeed.

"What should we do? Is that an assassin?" Ferenea muttered, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"I'll shield her," Meylin said, "you two make sure she doesn't escape. It's very likely that she isn't one of the Black Ajah since she's too young and amateurish but that doesn't mean she cannot be a Darkfriend. With me, ladies."

Sarenna followed Meylin who was calling the soldiers to stop. They stopped, many wearing puzzled looks, quickly moving out of the way. Meylin took lead as usual, walking briskly towards the girl. The soldiers out of the way, Sarenna noticed that the girl had a companion, an equally small Tairen girl. Both of them were staring at her, Meylin and Ferenea, looking terrified. The girl's glow of _saidar_ suddenly winked out when Meylin flung a thick Shield on her. The girl flinched and staggered but the other girl caught her before she could fall over. Meylin wove another Shield and placed it on the other girl, just in case. The girl started biting her lower lip and sniffling.

"You there," Meylin said loudly, using her most commanding tone which she had learned in the White Tower as an Accepted, "come here."

The girls glanced at each other, both white as sheets, and slowly closed the distance between them and the Kinswomen. Once they were within two meters, Sarenna could sense the ability in both of them. They weren't strong but maybe they would be eventually.

"You two come with us, now," Meylin said, still commandingly. The girls nodded, probably realising that they had no choice. Meylin nodded in satisfaction. She liked it when people had some healthy respect towards channelers.

"Who are you two and what is your business here?" Meylin demanded once they were outside the crowd.

It was the Tairen girl that could open her mouth first.

"Are you Aes Sedai? Can we be Aes Sedai?" she blurted, sounding excited.

Sarenna blinked and glanced at Meylin who looked surprised.

The Cairhienin girl looked at her companion and let out a tiny, resigned sigh.

"I am Meira," she said, "an orphan from the streets. The other one is Siuan, a refugee. She had this stupid idea to come inside the Palace area and ask you if you are Aes Sedai. She thinks that she can be one as well."

Awkward silence followed.

"We are not Aes Sedai," Ferenea said finally as Meylin was blinking rapidly, trying not to start crying and hugging the girls and telling them that they certainly could become Aes Sedai. Meylin had a soft spot for little girls with stupid ideas. She had once run away from the White Tower. Only once. The Aes Sedai had brought her back.

The girls looked crestfallen.

"Do you know where to find one?" the Tairen, Siuan, asked.

Ferenea and Sarenna exchanged looks as Meylin was useless at the moment. They owed their allegiance to the Queen of Andor and Cairhien. However, Queen Elayne was an Aes Sedai. Neither of them wanted to go near the White Tower as they might not leave the place again for some while. But then again, there were several Aes Sedai in Mayene. Ferenea shrugged, letting Sarenna make the decision.

"Well, yes," Sarenna said eventually, not happy with her place. "Taking you to Mayene wouldn't be too much of trouble. Do you agree, Meylin?"

Meylin nodded curtly. She was grinning happily and her eyes were sparkling. She looked like a young woman at her first dance.

Sometimes Sarenna wondered how Meylin had managed to get even so far in the White Tower. Meylin was strong enough to easily become an Aes Sedai but apparently she lacked something that all the Sisters had. Maybe she didn't take everything seriously enough. She never talked about it. Sarenna suspected that she had failed the test for the shawl. She herself had run away from the White Tower after only a few months, unable to take the high expectations and all the pressure, and Ferenea had failed her Accepted test, nearly dying. Egwene al'Vere had declared that those who had failed their tests were welcome to return and many Kinswomen, former novices and Accepted, were going to do just that but some like Sarenna and Ferenea had become used to independence. The White Tower didn't seem as inviting as it had decades earlier.

Sarenna sighed and looked the two girls up and down. Maybe they could become Aes Sedai one day. At the moment they just looked malnourished and dirty.

"Check them, Ferenea," Meylin said, remembering where she was and who she was supposed to be.

Ferenea raised an eyebrow at Meylin but did as she said. Ferenea first Delved the girls and apparently they were healthy enough as her weaves didn't turn into her signature Healing.

"They are alright," Ferenea muttered after a while. She didn't like being told to Delve people. She always did it anyway and being told to do something so obvious galled her. Meylin definitely wasn't thinking straight but she'd already realised her mistake as she was smiling apologetically.

"That's good. Girls, if you have anything to do before you leave with us, you should do it now. We will take you to Mayene in the evening after we have finished gathering the soldiers. You can also wait here but you had better stay out of the way and not go inside the Palace. Understood?"

The girls nodded, looking obviously relieved. They probably didn't want to get any closer to the Palace guards than necessary. Sarenna could see some of them looking at the girls, distaste obvious on their faces. They hadn't shown much respect to the Kinswomen either but at least they kept the reasons to themselves and refrained from outright slurs. Queen Elayne was probably going to do something about her people's attitudes but not when the Last Battle was about to start.

It was almost midnight when the last soldiers marched through the Gateway. Meylin released the link gently. Sarenna held _saidar_ for a few more moments before letting it go. She felt exhausted and in a dire need of a cup of wine. Channeling all day long was something she had never done before the Queen had requested the Kin's services.

"Well, that was it for today," Meylin said, making it sound like they had been doing some menial job. "Let's take the girls to Mayene and get some sleep. The Queen asked the Kin to take part to Healing services at the Palace."

Ferenea stretched, her joints making awful, loud cracks that always made Sarenna shiver in disgust.

"I think I'll join the front lines," she said after a while. "Having Healer on the field is really important."

Meylin opened her mouth to protest but then remembered that her authority didn't extend that far. Instead she just nodded.

"Sarenna, will you come with me, then?"

Sarenna looked at the girls who were sitting on the ground nearby, looking like they were almost asleep. They were still Shielded just in case though Meylin had tied the Shields off several hours ago. The area was weirdly dark.

"Sure, Meylin," Sarenna said slowly, suddenly feeling tense. Something was bugging her again. She looked around like a nervous animal, waiting for something unexpected to happen.

It was getting really dark. Torches had been lit, sure, but their light was slowly waning as if the darkness were gobbling it up.

"Something is wrong," she whispered, "it's one of those Bubbles."

Meylin gasped, eyes going wide. Ferenea embraced the Source immediately, weaving several balls of light. They didn't light the area like they were supposed to.

People were noticing what was happening. Sarenna could hear screams and panicked shouts coming from the Palace.

"What should we do?" Ferenea asked, aghast that her weaves weren't working properly.

Meylin embraced the Source and wove Fire. Cold flames manifested all around them, showing them visible threads of darkness that hissed when the flames touched them.

"I need that link back, right now," Meylin barked. Sarenna obeyed her reflexively. Ferenea was also brought into the link shortly.

Sarenna could barely see Meira and Siuan behind the flames and darkness. They seemed to be still sitting on the ground, unmoving. Threads of darkness were slowly covering them.

"The girls," she yelped, "help them, Meylin."

Meylin drew deeply on the Source and covered the whole courtyard in flames. Threads of darkness burned away, hissing like a nestful of angry snakes. Meylin staggered and almost fell. Sarenna felt her exhaustion through the link, mingling with her own. None of them was used to such level of channeling. Sure, they had practised channeling freely outside the White Tower but none of them had thought that one day they would have to defend themselves and innocent bystanders against the Dark One's miasma.

The flames died down and the threads of darkness started coming back.

"We cannot win here," Meylin said, trying to gather herself. Her hands were shaking visibly. "Girls, get your scrawny bottoms here this instant! We have to get out!"

Siuan and Meira ran out of the darkness, terror-stricken. Their skin was covered in red welts that had probably come from the threads of darkness. Siuan was crying quietly and hanging from Meira's arm while Meira was trying to control her own weeping and not succeeding at all. For some reason Meira's nose was bleeding.

Meylin drew in all the Power she could and wove a Gateway.

"Get in, get in, get in," she shrieked, taking the girls by the scruffs of their necks and pushing them through. Sarenna ran through behind Ferenea, letting Meilyn stay behind to hold off the darkness.

Suddenly the link vanished.

Sarenna turned around to go drag probably burned out Meylin through but Ferenea tackled her just in time before the Gateway snapped shut in front of her nose. Had she tried to go through, she would have probably died. But just before the Gateway closed, she saw Meylin falling over, her eyes closed. Threads of darkness fell on her like a school of predator fishes.

Sarenna blinked, lying on her stomach on the ground. She tried to touch _saidar_ but it felt like trying to catch wind.

"No, no, no, Meylin, no!" Ferenea cried, lying on top of Sarenna. Sarenna pushed her off and got on her knees. Tears fell on her cheeks.

"She's not dead," Sarenna whispered, denying what she was so certain about.

"She burned herself out, Sarenna," Ferenea wailed, confirming what Sarenna had suspected, "and those things started devouring her. Can you get any deader than that?"

Sarenna shook her head, trying to wipe away tears that just wouldn't stop coming. She could hear Siuan and Meira weeping nearby, like two hurt kittens calling for their mother. She looked around, trying to gather herself. They were in the Palace of the First Lady in Mayene. Several people were coming running to meet them. All but three of them were wearing novice dresses. One of the three Sarenna recognised. It was Rosil Sedai.

"What is this?" Rosil Sedai demanded when she was close enough. "Has the Battle already started?"

She knelt down beside the girls first, Delving and Healing them.

"No, not the Last Battle," Ferenea managed to say, helping Sarenna up. Tears were still falling freely on their cheeks. "A Bubble of Evil in the Cairhien Royal Palace. A friend of ours fell."

Rosil Sedai was an exceptional Aes Sedai. She could feel compassion, after a fashion.

"I see. I'll take care of everything. You two take it easy. Surviving such an ordeal is impressive. Mourn your friend in peace."

Sarenna almost twisted her mouth in disgust. Leave it to an Aes Sedai to act like she and Ferenea were just little girls. Instead, she managed a shallow curtsy and followed Ferenea who was muttering choked curses and wishing for a drink or two or three.

"For Meylin," they said several times that night, emptying a cup of strong brandy in her honour.

* * *

Meylin opened her eyes, gasping for breath. The first thing she did was to scream. She screamed until she saw black dots and almost fainted. She breathed in and screamed again. Again and again and again.

"We aren't even doing anything to you yet," a voice said nearby. "Stop it."

Meylin tried to scream again but nothing came out. She almost choked on her own spit.

She was in a room that had rough stone-walls. Balls of light hung in the air.

"That is better. As I understand it, you accidentally severed yourself."

Meylin tried to turn her head to look at the source of the voice. It sounded like it belonged to a man. However, her head wouldn't turn.

She tried to move her arms and legs but they were just as frozen. She tried to scream again.

The man's voice tut-tutted.

"My master wishes to make you an offer. He will restore your ability."

Meylin's eyes widened. She had heard that some Aes Sedai had found out how to Heal Stilling but she hadn't really believed it. Now, she fervently wished it to be true.

But... a he? A man channeling?

The thought sent shivers down Meylin's spine.

"The thing is, it's not actually an offer. Your ability will be restored. After that you'll become my master's willing servant. His eternal chewtoy. You do know who I am talking about, right? The Great Lord of Dark. Or as your kind calls him, the Dark One."

Meilyn screamed, her eyes bulging. Nothing came out, of course, but that didn't keep her from trying. She screamed, praying for death.

* * *

Rosil closed the novice book, wearing a tiny, satisfied smile. Meira Desandred and Siuan Ansadiz were officially the newest novices of the White Tower. The girls stood in front of her desk in the White Tower, shuffling their feet and glancing about.

"Stand still, children," Rosil said with a calm, firm voice. Both of them froze.

It was good that they already were adapting to their current situation.

Both of them were exceptionally strong, almost as strong as the Mother. Their drive to channel was strong, their young age and current ability being clear evidence of that.

"As of tomorrow, you'll start attending lectures and doing chores. Today, you'll be helped by two other novices who will tell you about rules and regulations. Wait for me outside, I'll accompany you to Mayene. Don't forget to curtsy."

Meira curtsied a bit better than Siuan who wobbled most awkwardly. They left silently, creeping like two little mice under a cat's nose.

Rosil signed a few papers that she had previously written. Both the novice and Accepted wings needed to be expanded and she needed to rewrite the curriculum completely. The old one had been incomplete and inadequate for several centuries and none had thought to do anything about it before. There was such thing as useless traditions. There were so many novices that teaching all of them was going to be a full-time job for the Accepted. That was going to have to change. It was good for the Accepted to learn how to keep a group of children under control but if they didn't have time for their own studies, it was useless. She also needed to find a way to collect all the prospective female channelers to the White Tower. It wouldn't do just to wait for the girls and women to show up, they had to be found and guided. The White Tower had been in a state of decline for centuries. It infuriated Rosil to think that some of her predecessors had been more interested in personal power and gain than in the White Tower's future. The future was in the novices and Accepted.

She was so engrossed with her papers that she did not notice red liquid trickling down the wall behind her. She did not notice it even as she left the room. It pooled on the floor, forming large shivering puddles. Soon it darkened and hardened, turning into something that was indistinguishable from dried blood.


	2. So It Begins

A/N: Next update on 20th of July or so.

Edit: Due to unforeseen complications with my computer, the update will happen on 26th of July.

* * *

**So It Begins**

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even the myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Fourth Age by many, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of the Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was _a_ beginning.

The wind travelled East, passing the barren Sand Hills and the healthy green West Wood where a few abandoned farms dotted the landscape. It lingered above the Emond's Field where the atmosphere teetered between delight and mourning. Survivors from the Last Battle were returning home and shrieks of joy mixed with cries of loss. People were returning through a Gateway and nearby the village Green stood two small women, one with long golden hair, the other with short and dark. Several older women from the village were talking to them, all at once, and the two women seemed interested.

The wind moved on, past the flowering Waterwood and the forests beyond, soon reaching Caemlyn, an empty husk of burned buildings and rubble. Only a day had passed since the Last Battle had been won but soldiers, civilians and channelers were already cleaning up the debris and slowly starting the rebuilding. The air still smelled of smoke months after the Trolloc attack and the death of Caemlyn.

The Royal Palace had burned to the ground with the city. The loss was highly symbolic but the Queen still reigned in Caemlyn and people had hope of a better tomorrow. She was said to be attending a private matter nearby where Shayol Ghul had once been. What that private matter was, only a few knew for certain but it was rumoured that the Dragon Reborn, the father of the Queen's babies, was dying.

The wind made its way southward, past the wilderness of Haddon Mirk and the Tairen border, to Mayene. The City was full of people that were celebrating the victory over the Shadow. Kinswomen and soldiers who had been discharged from the First's Palace were distributing food and other supplies, and telling people how they could get back home.

Inside the First's Palace the Last Battle wasn't quite over. Soldiers and refugees were still being brought in for emergency Healing. The Yellow Sisters and Kinswomen were Healing those with the most severe injuries and leaving the others for later. Novices and Accepted darted about, helping as they could. The place was pleasingly well-organised even though only one woman was in charge of it all.

Rosil wasn't pleased with the current state of affairs. She couldn't possibly take care of every novice and Accepted and know when they were ready to be tested. There were well over a thousand novices and more were coming in as Sisters and Kinswomen were finding eligible women among the refugees. Almost two hundred would be tested for Acceptance within the next few months, most of them older novices. Older women learned fast and had quite a lot of common sense that the younger women lacked. They didn't need to be taught discipline or better attitude. They were almost ideal students. The only problem was that there were too few ideal teachers. That would have to change. The White Tower had not hired tutors from outside in centuries and it was almost an unwritten Law not to do so but Rosil was starting to run out of options. That was for later, however.

Rosil was furiously writing a letter to the Hall of Tower, politely requesting that every Ajah should give her an assistant. She liked to call her wishes requests but if she had to say it out loud, they were honest demands. The Hall was in quite a state of turmoil following the Amyrlin's death. It was very likely that they would give in to her demands just to get her out of their hair until they chose a new Amyrlin. Rosil smiled. The rumour went that they were going to choose Cadsuane Melaidhrin. That woman was a menace in her own special way but she would definitely continue the same way as Egwene had. Rosil was certain that she would stay as the Mistress of Novices. Very few Aes Sedai were willing to take on such a task. There were still mutters and frowns about too old novices. Many wished to return to the good old days. Well, as far as Rosil was concerned, a novice could be of any age as long as she had the ability and the will to learn.

The door of her temporary study opened and someone said, "Rosil, I have brought you a new novice. Erinshane, go to introduce yourself. I'll take my leave."

Rosil looked up to see Anastasya Norin's back before the Green Sister left the room and closed the door behind her. A young woman dressed in rags stood beside the door, looking confused. A small sack leaned against the wall beside the door.

As Rosil took a second look at the newcomer, she noticed that the young woman was actually a tall young girl. She had long black hair and blue eyes, and she was very thin, probably barely avoiding starvation. After confusion passed, the girl smoothed her face to a passable Aes Sedai-calmness but her eyes glowed with suppressed anger. She kept glowering at her own feet.

"A new novice? What is your full name then, child?" Rosil asked, keeping her voice kindly despite her annoyance at the interruption. The girl jerked her head up to glare at Rosil. Rosil raised an eyebrow expectantly, not letting the girl's anger make any impression. The girl's mask of calm cracked a bit and she twisted her mouth as if tasting sour prunes.

"I am Erinshane Meloridred," she said after a while. "Aes Sedai," she added after a noticeable pause. This close, Rosil could sense the girl's tiny ability. It had bloomed very recently, probably without guidance, and so the girl's first reaction to channeling was months away. Beneath that ability was her vast potential. One day, if the girl was trained, she would be stronger than Sharina Melloy. Far stronger. Rosil's eyes would have bulged had she not been an Aes Sedai. As it was, she just stared at the girl steadily. The girl started to shift her feet nervously after a while and her anger faded to uncertainty.

"I am Rosil Sedai, the Mistress of Novices. It is good that you have chosen to join the White Tower. I can sense that you have already channeled at least once but from now on your should refrain from it unless told otherwise."

While she was speaking, she took out the Novice book and opened it. The book was brand new. The old book had been completely filled with names and placed in the White Tower archives. The last time that had happened had been almost two centuries ago. Rosil was certain that the new book would follow the old one within a few years. She felt some small pride at the thought.

The girl came closer to look at the empty first page of the book. Her expression alternated between anxiety and irritation. What a curious child.

"If I write my name in this book, I won't be able to leave? Rosil Sedai."

"That is correct. You'll be sealed to the White Tower until you reach the Shawl or are put out of the Tower. As Egwene Sedai, the late Amyrlin, wished it, if you are put out of the Tower, you may join the Kin, a group of female channelers outside the White Tower."

The girl's eyes shifted towards the closed door yearningly.

"Do I have a choice? Do I have to join the White Tower? Can I go back home to my aunt?"

Rosil blinked twice and let out a tiny sigh, processing the implications of the girl's words. Anastasya had brought the girl here against her will? Well, the girl was incredibly strong and the White Tower needed every woman it could find. However, the girl was very young, probably not even fifteen. Rosil was also starting to notice that the girl was hiding some deep mental trauma and was trying to be calm for the sake of appearances. Anastasya had probably been very rough with her. Rosil almost tut-tutted. Greens had little sense of subtleness at times, and what was more, Anastasya had just lost a Warder and was in a delicate state herself. Of course she would bludgeon a girl of great strength into joining the White Tower, whether the girl liked the idea or not. Rosil felt annoyed for a while. Let the Yellows sort out everything.

"How about you sit down for a while, child," Rosil said, making sure that her voice sounded motherly. "Some honeyed tea and sandwiches will make you feel better. It isn't right to make decisions like this with an empty stomach."

The girl stared at Rosil, looking confused at first, then grateful, her eyes slowly starting to shine with unshed tears. Rosil felt sorry for the girl. She was definitely going to have some words with Anastasya later.

After a quick word to a novice waiting outside, Rosil sat back down and looked at the girl benevolently. The girl seemed calmer now that she didn't immediately have to become a novice. Still, even sitting down she fidgeted and glanced about, obviously nervous.

"In case you do not wish to become an Aes Sedai, you do not have to. However, I must stress the fact that learning to channel on your own is very dangerous and will take considerably longer than it would if you had an experienced teacher. Only one woman in four learns enough control to become a wilder, a term that means someone who learned to channel on her own. The rest die, often horribly. Accidents caused by channeling are common but most die when the untamed One Power consumes their bodies. Their last days are filled with screaming and convulsions, and once this stage begins, no Aes Sedai alive knows how to stop it."

The girl listened in silence, her young face thoughtful and, perhaps, a bit fearful. She was obviously fascinated by what Rosil was telling to her. Rosil interpreted that as a sign of thirst for knowledge. Perhaps she could appeal to that.

"As a wilder, you wouldn't have the access to the vast knowledge of the White Tower. You wouldn't get any knowledge from the Kin either, as their policy is to avoid wilders. That is, if you even learn enough to know what you are doing. Most wilders do not. They remain largely unaware of their ability and often refuse to acknowledge it if pointed out to them. They have blocks, as we call them, mental barriers that keep them from reaching their true potential. Perhaps you wouldn't develop such problems. You seem like a special child, a very intelligent one, and I think you could teach yourself. However, why take years to achieve something that would take weeks with a good teacher? The White Tower will not force you to stay if you wish to go, once you have been taught enough to survive on your own."

Rosil was grateful to the Tower law. It allowed her to bend the truth a bit. Yes, it was true that the Tower allowed women to leave once they had learned enough. However, a girl of Erinshane's strength wouldn't walk away from the White Tower without the shawl.

The girl was quiet for a while, digesting Rosil's words. Rosil wondered if she had overdone it a bit. She was very good at understanding people and finding out how to best appeal to them but she usually did not have to say much to persuade girls and women to join the White Tower. Their curiosity did most of the work. Add in a few kindly words and they were ready to join. She hoped that would help with Erinshane as well. It wouldn't do to let such a treasure walk away.

"You promise that I'll be able to leave once I have learned enough?" Erinshane asked in a tiny voice. She sounded like a scared child. Rosil fought the urge to go hug the child. There would be time for healing later.

"I promise," Rosil said, smiling sadly, feeling a bit ashamed as the words she spoke were true only in the strictest terms of the Tower law. The child wouldn't be allowed to leave. There would be no obvious coercion but she would be kept so occupied with her studies that she wouldn't even notice the passage of time. Perhaps she would remember that she didn't really want to belong to the White Tower but would decide against leaving time and again, talking herself into staying a little while longer. Rosil had seen it before, even before becoming the Mistress of Novices.

The girl's face lit up and she smiled genuinely. Rosil felt a tiny twinge of guilt but she suppressed it. As the Mistress of Novices, she had to do what was best for the young channeler. Deceiving her in such a way was necessary if not laudable.

"Well, then I think I'll agree to write my name in the Novice book."

The sandwiches and tea arrived then, carried by Meira Desandred. Her curtsy had become better during the months as a novice, and she and Siuan were learning quickly the ways of the White Tower and the world. They still had bad habits, however. Rosil did not miss the calculating glance Meira shot at Erinshane. She hoped that nothing bad would come out of it. Being an arbitrator was a trying task, especially when girls as young as these were involved.

"Meira Desandred, this is Erinshane Meloridred," Rosil said after Meira set the tray on the table and waited for a moment to see if Rosil needed anything else. "As you and Siuan Ansadiz have been novices for a few months, I'd like you to show the ropes to Erinshane. As of tomorrow, she'll be wearing white."

Meira curtsied punctiliously but a small frown greased her forehead. Rosil had heard from the other novices that Meira and Siuan were always together, spoke very little to anyone else and did not want to deal with other people. That had to change. Rosil hoped that giving them an assignment like this would bring them out of their shells, at least a little bit.

"Meet her outside the novice housing tomorrow morning at sunrise. You should tell her about the rules and regulations of the White Tower. Once you move back to the White Tower, you should show her around. Of course neither you nor Siuan are all that familiar with the layout of the White Tower but you should learn together. You may go now, child."

After another perfectly proper curtsey, Meira left the room. Rosil waited until she could no longer feel Meira's ability outside the door.

"Well, child, write your name here," she said, showing the empty first page of the Novice book. "Also add your year of birth or date if you know it and nationality. If you do not know how to write, that is alright. I can write for you."

Erinshane took Rosil's pen gingerly and wrote her name down with a graceful handwriting, almost calligraphy. Rosil decided that she should have a chat with the girl and ask her about her upbringing. The girl was dressed in rags but then again, there were many nobles among the refugees. Rosil felt elated to have such a promising young girl as her charge. It was important to know where the girl should start with her studies.

"Here, have a sandwich," Rosil said with a warm smile. "How much honey do you want in your tea? You look like you have been hungry for a while. We are going to change that. Slowly, of course. Eating too much after having been hungry for a long time is bad for the belly. May I Delve you? Delving is a part of the Healing forms, used for determining the patient's condition. I'll make sure that you are healthy. Young children are susceptible to parasites and other nasty things, especially in such a weakened state. Now, I think you should tell me a little bit about yourself."

The girl was relatively healthy if terribly malnourished. She nibbled the sandwich, unable to wolf it down like she so painfully wanted to. She chewed slowly, obviously taking delight in the simple taste of a sliver of meat and cheese between two thin slices of fresh, buttered bread. Rosil hoped it wouldn't be too much for the girl's stomach. Recovering from near-starvation was a delicate thing.

The girl swallowed and looked at her sandwich pensively. Nervousness from earlier was completely gone. It had been replaced by serenity that looked very odd on a child so young. It made Rosil sad. The last few years had robbed childhood from many children. The sadness was replaced by amazement when the girl started talking. Her voice was cool, calm and collected, a perfect imitation of a highborn lady.

"I was born in the City of Cairhien thirteen years ago. My parents were respected scholars and could easily access the Royal Library. I grew up reading. I could write before I could properly speak. At the age of five, I could solve difficult mathematical problems and understand my father's theorems. My parents called me a genius, a prodigy even. I suppose they were right. I have always been far ahead my peers. I insisted on acting like a young adult at times, and when I turned ten my parents started to expect it from me at all times. Only in deep stress I would break my character and become a child. I was rarely allowed to play with toys and rather studied subjects that caught my fancy. I am well-versed in the Old Tongue and most humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. Of course, my knowledge is somewhat fragmented in many cases as the Royal Library does not hold all the books in the world. In fact, I have only skimmed many subjects since there are no reliable sources of knowledge to be found. In some cases, only the name and description of subject are known. But that counts as well-versed, at least outside the White Tower. Anyway, my parents fled from Cairhien when the political climate started to turn sour. Well, at least more sour than before. We went to Caemlyn and stayed there until the Trollocs came. We had to leave behind many prized possessions. My parents died in the Ruins. A Trolloc ate my mother's brain and I couldn't stop watching. My father was ripped apart. That was when I channeled for the first time. I killed dozens of Trollocs, quite possibly completely alone. I was carried to safety by my aunt Miera, my mother's sister. She is a wonderful lady if terribly nosy. The next day, Anastasya Sedai came to take me to the White Tower."

The young woman drew a deep breath and ate a few pieces of her sandwich. Rosil was stunned. She poured herself a cup of tea and sipped it to cover her speechlessness. She had found out what deep trauma the young woman was hiding. That didn't impede her ability to speak, however. It was the realisation that in front of her was probably sitting the next Cadsuane. No, scratch that, the next Egwene. Except, she was much younger than Egwene had been when she came to the White Tower. She already had a head-start. What would she become before her twentieth birthday? Rosil sipped some more of her tea, thinking furiously. Erinshane wouldn't have to have the basic education that most novices needed. She would probably assimilate all the information offered to the novices within a few months if not weeks. She would probably read every book available in the Library and try to get her hands on those that were restricted from novices. Would she become an Aes Sedai in record time? Definitely if Rosil made sure that she got the best teachers the Tower had to offer.

Rosil shook herself inwardly. Though Erinshane spoke like a nobleborn young lady, she was still too young to be thought of as a woman. She was a precocious child who had just lost her parents. On top of that, she had been dragged away from her possibly only surviving relative. Looking closely at the girl Rosil could see signs of mental and physical fatigue, all somewhat hidden behind a calm mask. Few young Aes Sedai could show such lack of emotion under distress.

"Do you love your parents?" Rosil asked quietly.

The girl cringed visibly.

"I don't know. There were... incidents. My parents never wanted me to have fun. Everything had to be educational. Once, when I had sneaked outside to play with the other children, my father came to find me, dragged me back home and beat me with a stick, yelling that I wasn't allowed to play as I wasn't learning anything useful. My skin was covered in welts and bruises for several weeks."

A tiny tear slid down the girl's cheek. She bit her lower lip and took a deep, trembling breath. Deep-seated hatred glowed in her eyes just for a moment before vanishing behind a mask of calm. Rosil put down her cup and closed the distance between her and the child. Erinshane looked up, startled, eyes swimming in tears that she was very hard trying not to shed. Rosil smoothed the girl's hair, trying to hold back tears of anger. Such wicked people. She did not doubt the girl's words, not with the hatred she saw. She knew what went on in some scholar Houses.

"Please, continue, child," Rosil whispered. "Let it all out. I am certain that you haven't had anyone to talk to in a long time."

Erinshane tried to blink tears away, only succeeding at making them fall on her cheeks. Her nose was leaking. Rosil took a handkerchief out and wiped the girl's face. The girl let her do it, not flinching even once. Her sandwich lay forgotten in her hands.

"I had a caregiver called Serrafela Nar. I called her Serra. She was nice to me, gave me sweets and let me go out to play with the other children despite my parents' express wishes. She lied to them to keep them from hurting me. She went missing a few weeks after my twelth birthday and my parents told me that she would not be replaced. I did not want her to be replaced as I liked her, and still like, quite a lot. They did not ask me but then, they took little interest in my wishes, needs and likes. When we had to leave Cairhien, they considered leaving me behind to the care of another scholar family. I don't know why they decided against it. They always complained about me in private, saying that I was a burden that they honestly did not need. In public, they showed me around like an exotic pet, telling everyone what a talented child they had."

The bitterness and sense of loss Rosil heard in the girl's voice was heartbreaking. Nobody should be treated in such fashion by her own parents. Rosil knew that it was common among the Cairhienin Houses to either have the child taken care of by a governess or send the child away to be raised by another House. She did not approve of such practises. They did more harm than good in the long run. The girl's parents sounded like they weren't supposed to be parents at all. At least they couldn't harm the girl anymore.

"There is no shame in that, child," Rosil said gently, still smoothing the girl's hair, "and if you feel that you miss your caregiver more than your parents, you should mourn her first."

Erinshane nodded slowly and wiped her eyes. Rosil's own eyes were slowly starting to tear up but she let them. The girl needed sympathy, not Aes Sedai calmness.

"Would you like to see your aunt sometimes?" Rosil asked. Erinshane nodded, flashing a tiny smile. Rosil answered it with her own. "I think I'll put you in a novice family that has several young members. You'll have many friends and a new family of wonderful cousins. Is there anything else you need?"

Erinshane shook her head and ate the last of her sandwich. Rosil nodded in satisfaction. Healing had begun.

* * *

The room was brightly coloured in warm reds, yellows and browns. There was a row of oval stained-glass windows on one wall, high up near the vaulted ceiling. Sunlight filtered through them and glinted on the lone if huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Bookcases covered the walls, barely touching the windows on one side and elsewhere almost reaching the ceiling. In the middle of the room, surrounded by stacks of paper and books, stood a foldable writing table, looking terribly out of place compared to the surroundings. Anyway, a nice room but the atmosphere was dusty.

On one side of the table, sitting on a rickety stool, Erinshane plucked at her white dress, somehow a bit dissatisfied. It wasn't that she didn't like the fabric or the colour but she had expected it to be a bit more... modern. It looked like something out of a history book.

"Raesha Sedai?" she said respectfully to a stocky, quite toad-like yellow-haired woman who was sitting on the other side of the massive writing table, obviously just feigning interest in her papers. The Aes Sedai did not jump but her fingers twitched. Rosil Sedai had left Erinshane to Raesha Sedai's care for the time being. Raesha Sedai was supposed to answer all the questions Erinshane might have. That meant that the poor woman did not have a minute's respite. Maybe Rosil Sedai was punishing her for something.

"Yes, child?" she said, her voice just as toad-like as her appearance. Her dress was bright yellow and orange with a red sash, quite garish, and she was wearing a necklace of big fat pearls that were bright pink. She seemed like a decent person despite her appearances. She hadn't told Erinshane off for asking questions and she answered Erinshane's questions quite solemnly. Erinshane had decided to not judge all the Aes Sedai before meeting at least a sizeable proportion of their number. Rosil Sedai had been really nice and understanding, and Raesha Sedai, a member of the Brown Ajah, was a prime example of how Erinshane was not supposed to judge a book by its cover but to listen to the person at first. Not that she did judge. She was just a bit paranoid when it came to meeting new people.

"I wonder why these novice dresses are so old-fashioned and why aren't the novices allowed to wear trousers and blouses instead."

Raesha Sedai made a noise that sounded like what it would sound like if a toad made a noise like "hummmhh" and laced her fingers. That was the pose she took whenever she was about to give a short lecture instead of a short answer. Erinshane stopped plucking at her dress and listened avidly.

"The novices are female children and should wear appropriate dresses. Trousers have been in fashion at times during the history of the White Tower but these white dresses have never followed fashion. They are durable and easy to clean, and anyone can wear them without looking ridiculous. They might look old-fashioned to you, child, but they are what novices have always worn and will probably wear until the times have changed enough."

Quite interesting, the wording at least. Erinshane had already concluded that the Aes Sedai often did things the way they did because the things had always been done that way. She smelled stagnation and complacence among their ranks, unsurprisingly an unpleasant smell. However, some progress had been happening lately, mostly because the former Amyrlin had been a revolutionary. But the operative word was "former". While following Rosil Sedai, Erinshane had heard two Aes Sedai talking about someone called Cadsuane Melaidhrin being raised to the staff and stole, whatever that meant. Probably something to do with the Amyrlin's office. She had not found any books about the ceremonies surrounding the raising of an Amyrlin. Erinshane sincerely hoped that the woman wasn't going to let the White Tower fall to ruin. It would not do now that they had Erinshane's curiosity and interest.

Raesha Sedai looked at Erinshane expectantly over her papers. Erinshane smiled like a happy child and thanked the kind Aes Sedai for her information. Raesha Sedai smiled back, a smile that an adult gives to a small child when she behaves well. Erinshane did not let her smile freeze. She had been deceiving adults into underestimating her since she had been three years old. Her parents had been rather nasty, that was the truth, and her father had really once beaten her for playing outside, but the thing about being upset over their death? That was a big, fat lie that served her purposes for now. Rosil Sedai had seen through it, perhaps, but was apparently withholding judgement.

"Was Egwene Sedai a great Amyrlin?" Erinshane asked next, keeping her expression child-like and curious. In truth, she was evaluating Raesha Sedai's opinions to herself.

Raesha Sedai's expression changed just a little bit, enough for Erinshane's trained eyes to notice. So, she hadn't approved of Egwene Sedai? A pity.

"Well, she was great, in her own way," Raesha Sedai said slowly. "She was very young, however. Inexperienced in many ways. Things went the way she wanted, however, regardless of what the more experienced people wanted. Hopefully the next Amyrlin will have more... experience, let's say."

Erinshane shuffled through the implications, processing everything swiftly in her mind. Though it galled her sometimes, she was grateful to her parents for giving her such a good education. That did not absolve them of their sins, however.

So, Raesha Sedai belonged to the conservative segment of the White Tower politics. She was probably well over one hundred and fifty years old. She had supported this Elaida Sedai, an abysmal Amyrlin by the looks of it. Erinshane had collected bits and pieces of information from everywhere, before, during and after the Last Battle, mixing and matching them together and forming a somewhat clear picture of the events. Nobody was going to tell her anything anyway.

"Thank you, Raesha Sedai," she said again with a smile. Raesha Sedai relaxed visibly and glanced at the clock she had on her writing table.

"It is getting late, child," Raesha Sedai said. "You should run along now. Rosil has probably found you a family by now." She said "family" with some disapproval in her voice. "Remember to curtsey."

Erinshane got up, curtsied deeply enough and left the room without looking back. She could, however, feel Raesha Sedai's eyes on her back. Perhaps she should be a bit more careful about her questions around Aes Sedai.

Outside she found Rosil Sedai after a few minutes. The tall and thin Yellow Sister smiled as she saw Erinshane. The smile reminded Erinshane of Serra's smile. It made her smile back genuinely.

"Well, there you are, child," Rosil Sedai said, stopping. Erinshane curtsied, deeper than to Raesha Sedai. Rosil Sedai nodded approvingly.

"I was coming to take you to your new family. Follow me. I'll show you the way to the novice housing."

Erinshane followed Rosil Sedai a half a meter behind. She listened to every conversation they walked by and swivelled her head to look at the passing people, most of them novices and Accepted. They were of all ages and nationalities, and every last one of them paused to offer a curtsey to Rosil Sedai. Some gave Erinshane wondering looks but none of them made her shiver like Meira had. That girl's eyes had held malice. Erinshane was not looking forward to meeting the girl again tomorrow.

Rosil took her to the northernmost part of the Palace. There every dress Erinshane saw was white. The rooms looked like they were usually used for storage but now the heavy doors stood open, mattresses were stacked neatly in the corners of the rooms and women were sitting on the floor, chatting gaily. When the women saw Rosil Sedai, they got up to curtsey and waited until she passed to sit back down.

"Your new family consists two former Kinswomen and three young women who too have lost many things during the last few years. None of them are from Cairhien but I think you find that acceptable. The two Kinswomen are Aria Saniago, from Tear and Liada do Tindilin a'Rhidnan, from Murandy. I'm afraid they'll be tested soon for Acceptance but they are good women and will help you if you need it. The three young women were found in Mayene quite recently. Radshalle Elidhrin is from Far Madding, Shinga Rahien is probably from Andor and Nelesia Fendahl, curiously from Tar Valon. None of them is over ten years older than you."

After that, there were a few minutes of silence as Rosil Sedai led Erinshane deeper into the novice housing. The First's Palace was quite extensive but Erinshane had a feeling that the Northern part of it hadn't been in use in quite a while. Cobwebs and dust covered the rafters and plaster was falling off the walls. Still, every corner was well-lit and no deep shadows were to be seen. Erinshane wondered if that had something to do with Fades.

Rosil Sedai came to a halt in front of one nondescript open door and peeked inside. Erinshane remained standing behind her, trying to look like she wasn't trying to look over Rosil Sedai's shoulder. She was surprised to notice how nervous and excited she suddenly was. Meeting new people did that to her sometimes, especially if she thought she might actually like the people.

"Your family has now a new member," Rosil Sedai said to the people inside the room. "Make her feel welcome and help her to get used to the ways of the White Tower."

Rosil Sedai then beckoned to Erinshane who took a couple of steps closer and peeked inside the room. Five women were standing inside, all of them looking quite expectant. Suddenly Erinshane had an awful case of stage fright.

"Hello," she managed to say and was proud that her voice did not waver at all, "I am Erinshane Meloridred. N-nice to meet you."

She blushed despite her firm conviction not to. She had never stuttered when she had been around nobles.

A stocky, brown-skinned woman with black, short hair and blue eyes closed the distance between herself and the doorway, took a firm hold of Erinshane's sleeve and pulled her into the room. She reminded Erinshane of a big feline predator despite her homely appearances, with all the grace and implied danger that went with the description.

"We will take care of her, Rosil Sedai," the woman said, her voice sonorous and full of wisdom. Rosil Sedai nodded with a smile and left, leaving Erinshane completely alone with virtual strangers.

"I am Aria Saniago," the woman said, still keeping a firm hold of Erinshane's sleeve. Perhaps she thought Erinshane might run away if she let go. Erinshane wasn't certain she wouldn't. "Call me San. Now sit down and don't run away. Rosil Sedai will have our hides if you don't get food and rest."

Aria gestured at one of the mattresses. Erinshane sat down with a thump. She was offered a plate of food by a woman with a long and shaggy brown-speckled-with-white braid and golden brown eyes. She was tall, thin and pale, sort of like Rosil Sedai but harder, more... soldier-like. Her face was angular and her mouth curved gracefully. Erinshane thought she reminded her of a wolf. In a poetic sense, of course.

"Thanks," she managed to mumble and took the plate. The food consisted of some colourful vegetables, gravy that smelled really good, a loaf of bread and some butter. Erinshane was hungry but she had not really paid mind to it. She was used to the feeling.

The wolf-woman said nothing so Aria filled the following silence.

"This is Liada do Tindilin a'Rhidnan. She fancies herself a mysterious hooded stranger sitting in a dark corner in a tavern. Don't mind her, she doesn't say much to any of us."

Liada the wolf-woman raised an eyebrow as Aria, conveying appreciation at the description and went to sit on her own mattress. She kept looking at Erinshane with a steady gaze that was more curious than anything else. Erinshane cleared her throat and began to eat slowly.

The three other people in the room waited until Aria nodded at them to introduce themselves.

Radshalle was an owlish girl with a pale, oval face, long golden hair and greenish eyes with long, dark eyelashes. She moved with a dancer's grace and with more dignity than her years should give her. She was, at most, seventeen years old and by her own words only sixteen. She was a genuinely friendly person, a rare breed in Erinshane's opinion.

Shinga was a short woman with dark hair, dark eyes with steel in them and pushy, dark eyebrows that seemed to be constantly furrowed. She struck Erinshane as a lion pretending to be a house-cat, short and simple. She was pretty enough to catch a second look from a passing man but seemed completely disinterested in that fact. There was some tension between her and Aria, probably due to the fact that they were both women of similar strength, two strange tigers in the same small room. But Aria was far older and therefore had a better claim to leadership. Shinga was barely twenty and seemed to be hiding quite a lot of things.

Then there was Nelesia Fendahl, with long locks of black hair and sharp, greyish eyes. She was quite pale, with strange scars on her knuckles. Her smile was impish but real, a trickster's grin. Her manner was pompous and her voice perfect for storytelling and singing. She was, in fact, an accomplished bard, at the age of twenty-two.

Erinshane spoke very little, more interested in her food than in conversation. Aria seemed to understand this perfectly as she admonished the others for interrupting Erinshane's dinner with unnecessary questions.

But once Erinshane's plate was empty, she was suddenly bombarded by a barrage of questions from every direction. The questions ranged from quite personal to general kind of things. Erinshane felt quite uncomfortable.

"What was it like to live in Cairhien?" Nelesia asked, cocking her head. She had sat down beside Erinshane, almost too close for comfort.

Erinshane studied her feet, trying to find an answer that would satisfy the woman's curiosity but not give anything painful away.

"Well, I studied at the Royal Library. It was mostly quiet and dusty. I didn't venture out into the streets very often. My parents took me with them to Caemlyn a year ago and we lived there until the Last Battle came."

"How old are you anyway?" Shinga asked, chewing her nails. They were very short due to constant abuse from their owner's teeth.

"I'm thirteen."

All of them expressed some degree of surprise at that. Radshalle went as far as to gasp out loud and cover her mouth in embarrassment.

"I thought so," said Nelesia, sounding self-important. Aria gave her one look and the woman seemed to deflate visibly.

"It is getting late," Aria said, giving them all a look that a mother gives to her children when saying the same thing. "And we must get up early tomorrow to help the Aes Sedai with Healing. Do you have to meet someone early in the morning, Erinshane?"

Erinshane nodded slowly. It seemed strange to her that Meira and Siuan were supposed to teach her the rules and regulations of the White Tower when she had a family who could teach her the same things. She said as much.

Aria shrugged.

"It is a tradition of sort. Not very often done nowadays. A new novice usually fits easily in any family but with some cases Rosil Sedai needs to think about it. I learned what was expected from me back when I was a novice of the White Tower many years ago but Shinga, Nelesia and Radshalle learned that from me. Perhaps Rosil Sedai wants you to acquaint yourself with Meira Desandred and Siuan Ansadiz for some other reason. I hear those two keep to themselves and rarely speak to anyone. Perhaps you are supposed to tease them out of their shells."

Erinshane nodded, not at all looking forward to the next day.

* * *

Erinshane slept fitfully, dreaming of faceless horrors chasing her. She woke up with a start, Nelesia's mischievous grin inches from her face. A strangled scream left Erinshane's throat and she almost committed an assault, lashing at Nelesia's face instinctively. Nelesia moved out of the way agilely, looking surprised and a bit hurt.

"Foolish woman!" Erinshane growled. "I could have hurt you!"

Nelesia chortled at that.

"Sorry, I was just about to wake you up but you looked so cute sleeping with your mouth open and drooling all over yourself. I didn't expect you to take such fright at me."

Erinshane felt a bit mollified even if her heart was racing. She was wide awake, however. That was a plus. She wiped her cheek that was a little wet from something. Drool, probably.

"The sun will rise soon," Nelesia said, took a comb out of Erinshane's small sack and started to straighten Erinshane's hair. Aria and Liada were having a hushed conversation sitting on Liada's mattress. The conversation consisted mostly of simple gestures and very few words. Erinshane could not even hazard a guess at what they were talking about.

Radshalle was sitting on her own mattress, yawning mightily and wiggling her toes so that her slippers trembled. Shinga was nowhere to be seen though her voice could be heard from outside, talking blearily to someone just as bleary.

"I usually can't awaken at this hour," Erinshane said, mostly to herself. Nelesia did not comment. "It feels like my head is made of wool. I dislike having a head that is made of wool. Can I now go back to sleep?"

Nelesia tugged at Erinshane's hair quite sharply.

"No, you have to get up. I know that you are just a little kid but, I don't know if you have noticed, that's how the Aes Sedai view all the novices. Little kids. Cute. Not very trustworthy and should be worked to exhaustion to keep them out of trouble."

Erinshane declined to comment. She felt cheated, somehow. She had expected early morning to be somehow magical, the way most people went on about early rising, birds, worms and stuff. Her parents had not cared when she got out of bed as long as she studied for twelve hours a day. So she had rather stayed awake till the small hours of the morning and woken up late in the afternoon.

Aria got up from Liada's mattress and came to stand in front of Erinshane.

"It's your first day as a novice," she said brightly. "Enjoy it. We'll be in the South Wing, helping Ramona Sedai. You'll find us quite easily if you ask directions. Don't think for a moment that you can find us without. The First's Palace is a worse maze than the White Tower."

Erinshane nodded numbly, filing the name away for later. She decided that she hated early mornings with absolute conviction.

* * *

Erinshane approached the meeting place with trepidation. Novices streamed past her, their conversations making a quiet, constant hum that reminded Erinshane of a bee hive.

She could see Meira and a short Tairen girl, probably Siuan, standing just outside the novice housing, talking together and glancing about in a nervous fashion. They reminded her of two foxes eating a carcass, afraid that some bigger, badder predator might take interest in their meal and steal it from them.

She drew a deep breath through her nostrils. This wasn't as bad as the courts her parents had taken her to. These two were of almost the same age as she was. But there was that malice she had seen in Meira's eyes... But then, she had remembered a few things when Rosil Sedai had told her the full names of Meira and Siuan.

Erinshane steeled herself, clenched her fists and marched on. The stream of novices was thinning fast and soon she would be all alone with those two. If anything happened, she wanted witnesses.

Meira and Siuan turned to regard her as she approached. Meira looked now uncertain, nervous even but Siuan's eyes blazed with loathing.

"Good morning," Erinshane said with some fake cheer. She appeared to meet their eyes without reservation while actually avoiding it at all costs.

Siuan stepped in front of Meira, appearing to try to shield the other girl from Erinshane. Meira looked like she was refusing to show any fear. Erinshane could almost smell it, however. What was going on?

"Whatever. You are here. Let's talk," Siuan said in clipped tones. Both of them were head and shoulders shorter than Erinshane but while Meira was trying to make herself seem even smaller, Siuan was trying to loom.

"Good idea," Erinshane said, smiling for all her worth. "I have so many questions about the White Tower and Aes Sedai, I don't even know where I should begin. Maybe you can start with some general things and I'll ask for clarifications if I need any?"

Siuan's nostrils dilated. Erinshane felt her smile slipping little by little.

"Meira told me how Cairhienin nobles entertain themselves. Why you were allowed to join the White Tower, I don't know, but you certainly do not deserve it. I think you should leave, right now, before I make you. Monsters are not welcome here."

Erinshane drew herself up, feeling most disconcerted. She did have an inkling of what Siuan was talking about but she wasn't stupid enough to admit it.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," she said instead, lying with a straight face. Well, not straight. Of course she also acted like she didn't know what Siuan was talking about. Surprised, hurt, quite a bit offended, all that.

Siuan narrowed her eyes.

"So you don't know what I'm talking about? I think you do. You are a little, lying chit of a monster."

Erinshane's arm moved faster than her thought, delivering a satisfyingly hard slap on Siuan's cheek. It echoed in the now-empty hallway. Siuan staggered, letting out a shriek of pain and then lunged for Erinshane's throat like a small, angry snake. Erinshane slipped aside and tripped Siuan with a simple kick.

"I'll forgive your vulgar insult as a goose-brained street-rat is not worth holding a grudge against," she spat, her cheeks flaming with anger and embarrassment. She had struck first and now she was using such coarse language.

Siuan clambered on her feet, puffing. Apparently falling over had knocked the air out of her.

"It is better to be a street-rat than a child-kidnapper and slaver," she hissed, her fists clenched. Erinshane got an involuntary flashback and she cringed, wanting to not remember.

She was nine years old and sitting between her mother and father who looked like two merciless gaolers, there to keep Erinshane from running. They were in her parents' friend's house, in a smaller, more private tearoom. It was a small, decadent court, a sport enjoyed by House Riatin and their allied houses. There were some twenty nobles in attendance, sitting on comfortable chairs and sipping tea and eating delicate, tiny biscuits. The place smelled of sweat and perfume and of other things that Erinshane was too young to recognise.

There was a small stage on the other side of the room. A heavy curtain covered it now but someone was moving behind it, getting the evening's show ready.

Erinshane hated everything around her. She knew what the show was going to be.

Some nobles, the more decadent ones, liked to gather some poor children off the streets, drug them heavily and then make them perform and entertain their guests. Those who performed best were sold afterwards to the highest bidder; the others, the so-called failures, were made to fight ferocious animals until the animals killed them. It made her feel sick and she wasn't allowed to look away. If she did, she got beaten.

She remembered the children being about her age, all of them barely able to stand up. They were made to dance and recite poems and afterwards a few of them were sold. Erinshane did not know what happened to those who were sold. Maybe they became servants. She did not dare ask.

She remembered crying in the evening because she was so weak. She shamed her family by showing how upset she was. She hated herself for it but she wanted to make her parents proud. They expected her to one day join them as a full member of those dark courts. Serra had comforted her, promising that she could make her own choices when she grew up.

Erinshane blinked her eyes, surprised to realise that she was crying. A small keening noise was coming out of her. Meira was standing in front of Siuan, whispering furiously.

"She's just a kid, Siuan," Meira was saying, anger in her hushed voice. Siuan was looking both hurt and ashamed at the same time. "Making her answer for the sins of the others is wrong."

"She slapped me," Siuan muttered, rubbing her red cheek. Erinshane could not see Meira's face but Siuan quailed.

"You really deserved it, after calling her all those nasty names. I told you not to do this. I may hate nobles but I'm not going to take it out on a kid."

Siuan muttered something else but Erinshane was too focused on trying to control her crying to care. It just kept coming. Her nose was leaking again and she wasn't finding her handkerchief. Wiping her nose to her sleeve was disgusting and unladylike.

"Here," Meira muttered and offered her handkerchief to Erinshane. Erinshane took it warily and wiped her face clean. "I am sorry for what Siuan said. I told her why I was upset after seeing you yesterday and she sort of does not listen to reason."

Erinshane nodded slowly, finally finding her own, clean handkerchief and offered it to Meira. Meira shook her head, showing that she already had another one.

"Anyway, I don't think it's a good idea for us to hang out together," she said, obviously trying to keep herself from lapsing into street language. "We might not get along all that well. I appreciate what Rosil Sedai is trying to do but putting two Cairhienin from completely different stations together is not the best idea."

Siuan was glowering at Erinshane from behind Meira's back. Erinshane kept her face indifferent.

"Here's a curious fact," she said, regaining some of her fake cheer. Meira and Siuan stiffened. "There used to be a merchant House in Tear. It fell on hard times quite recently, a year or two ago and its members had to find other means to survive. Care to guess what the name this House was?"

Siuan's face turned white. She began shaking her head, pleading Erinshane not to continue. Erinshane let her fake cheer fade and absolute coldness replace it. Siuan had forced her to relive one of the worst memories of her childhood. Nowadays she even knew what happened to the children that were sold. She hated all of it.

"Siuan is not probably your real name since it's a commoner's name," Erinshane said with venom. "It's probably Siulana or something ridiculous like that. Ansadiz, however, is an ancient name reserved for that merchant House. A commoner using that name risks her life. That law was probably repealed by the Dragon Reborn but these attitudes survive far longer than the law itself. So, you are a noble yourself. Last I heard there are actually far worse practises among the Tairen nobility. Maybe you have even heard of them. Pot. Kettle. Black."

The look on Siuan's face was utter dread. Meira altered her astonished look between Erinshane and Siuan. Slowly dread turned into resignation and Siuan hung her head, blinking her reddening eyes furiously.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Meira whispered. Siuan shook her head helplessly and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Wet spots stained the otherwise pristine wool.

"I guess she noticed that you have no love for nobles and decided to keep it to herself. Maybe she was ashamed of it," Erinshane said, earning a dirty look from both Siuan and Meira. Well, they weren't going to be on friendly terms after this anyway. So in for a penny, in for a mark.

"The other curious fact on the day," Erinshane drawled, "dates back to the Aiel War. Did you know, there used to be far more noble Houses back then? Many of them died out when the Aiel ransacked the City. One such curious noble House was named Desandred."

Frosty silence followed. Erinshane was enjoying herself greatly. Of course, it was bad business to prove your adversary prematurely wrong when they were underestimating you but if these two were going to be a thorn in her hide anyway, they might as well know what they were up against.

"And as you know, Cairhien and Tear are quite similar in these aspects. A commoner is not allowed to use the name of a noble House. So apparently House Desandred did not die out after all. And that hating all the nobles thing? How about you start learning the difference between the decent and the corrupt and stop going about blaming the decent people for the atrocities the corrupt commit. Just a thought. Anyway, that's all for today. If you don't believe me, just look it up. Enjoy your brooding and troubled thoughts. Remember to share. Rosil Sedai would love to hear about how you made a thirteen-year-old child cry because you thought she took part to some things that the most unsavoury people do. And remember to add how you gravely insulted her. Misdirected anger might be a thing that she forgives but actually acting on it? Lovely. See you."

She did not quite whistle as she turned her back to them and set out to find Ramona Sedai. Then she heard quiet sobbing from where Siuan and Meira were standing and suddenly felt like a total weasel. A nasty, Light-forsaken weasel. So she turned around and drew a deep breath.

"I'm sorry!" she all but shrieked and then turned and ran.

Running away she could not see the astonished, tear-stained faces of Meira and Siuan and small, curious smiles that had appeared on their lips.

* * *

Erinshane found a small alcove where to calm herself down. Nobody was following her and most people were just minding their own business. A novice hurrying past them was hardly an uncommon sight. Red eyes and leaky nose were just as normal, and those who noticed just shook their heads and muttered something about little scoundrels.

Erinshane wiped her face with Meira's handkerchief. She was puffing a little after the hasty retreat and humiliation twisted her stomach. Had she fallen in some sort of obvious trap? Maybe? It was a definite maybe. She hated herself for being so easy to goad. Next time they would not catch her so off guard.

She drew a deep breath and slowly managed to calm herself. It would not do for her family to see her so upset. They would definitely tell Rosil Sedai and then she would ask all kinds of difficult questions that would be hard to dodge.

So, what next? Go find her family? They expected her to spend quite a lot more time with Meira and Siuan yet. Questions would be asked. Not a good thing to do, then.

Find Rosil Sedai and drop a few hints at Meira's and Siuan's true origins? Maybe. It sounded entertaining but would be quite futile. Rosil Sedai would notice that the two were upset anyway sometime soon. They wouldn't probably tell her anything but Rosil Sedai was quite capable herself...

But no, Erinshane did not feel like doing it.

So, go wander about? Now that was a thought. Maybe she would be able to sneak a peek at some lesson. Did they have lessons here? The place was a hospital so probably not. It was still worth checking out, however. A lone novice might attract attention but if she kept moving briskly and looked like she was out on some Aes Sedai's business, nobody would ask anything. She liked the idea well enough.

Brisk walking took her completely out of the North Wing where the novice housing, storage rooms and servant quarters were and made her way to the East Wing, keeping away from the Central Wing where Rosil Sedai's study was. That woman would recognise her immediately.

The East Wing was dedicated to the Accepted housing and many Healing wards. Before long Erinshane actually found a lesson in session. An Aes Sedai was showing something to a group of Accepted and it had to be very interesting as all of them were listening avidly or at least faking it convincingly.

The Aes Sedai was a Yellow Sister, with the shawl and all. She was a stout woman with a plump face, talking and gesturing spiritedly, using some rough street slang expressions that Erinshane recognised to be of from Ebou Dar. The Aes Sedai was quite new to the Shawl as her face was not yet ageless. Strangely enough it was more of middle-aged than young. Maybe she was one of those Kinswomen who had come back to the White Tower. Erinshane had read that most new Aes Sedai looked young, in some cases barely twenty-five. Most did not seem to age beyond that even if they were well over fifty.

Erinshane hid herself partially behind a thick pillar and stood there watching the group. A man was lying on a table in front of the Aes Sedai, breathing but not apparently conscious. His chest was wrapped in bloody bandages. Erinshane realised soon that the Accepted were seeing more things than she was. The way the Aes Sedai gestured suggested that she was guiding the One Power and Erinshane was not sufficiently advanced to see what she was doing. Erinshane tapped the pillar with fingers, trying to decide whether to leave or stay. It was useless to try to see something she couldn't possibly yet see. The books she had read were clear on that. She was supposed to study for some time before she could see the weaves.

"I need to find someone to teach me," she muttered, barely audible even to her own ears but the Aes Sedai raised her head and looked straight at her. Erinshane blushed as the Aes Sedai raised an eyebrow. None of the Accepted turned around to take a look but the Aes Sedai alone was enough. Erinshane curtsied hurriedly and beat a hasty retreat.

She decided that plenty of time had passed since she had gone to meet Siuan and Meira. Nobody was going to question her now. Also, if that Aes Sedai finished her lesson soon, she might come looking for a rogue novice wandering about and Erinshane wasn't up for that kind of experience. Who knew, even young Aes Sedai were intimidating when you weren't one of them.

The South Wing housed the Aes Sedai and most of the Healing wards. Ramona Sedai's ward was quite easy to find after asking directions. Erinshane did not like asking for directions. It forced her to interact with strange people.

Very few men were to be seen in the corridors and most of them were soldiers leaving the place. They kept themselves clear of novices and Accepted, acting like the women did not even exist. Maybe they had been told to not have anything to do with the Aes Sedai's charges.

Erinshane knocked politely before entering. The ward was small compared to the ones she had seen. The room had probably once been a study or something like that.

Aria looked up and smiled when Erinshane entered. A stout woman with white hair was moving busily around the single table standing in the middle of the room. A woman with an ageless face was lying on it, her face and upper body badly burned and leaking stuff on the table. She wasn't breathing very well.

"Take your place by the wall and be quiet," the woman, probably Ramona Sedai, snapped, not even looking at Erinshane. Erinshane accepted the order graciously and hurried to join her family standing beside the wall.

"What's going on?" she breathed as quietly as she could to Shinga who was closest. Shinga just shook her head and widened her eyes a little bit.

"Quiet!" Ramona Sedai barked. "If Lirafelle dies, I'm taking it out of your hides."

Erinshane clicked her mouth shut, swallowing her annoyance. She stood quietly, watching Ramona Sedai doing something that Aria and Liada could see but Shinga, Nelesia and Radshalle could not. Erinshane deduced that from the ways Aria's and Liada's eyes were moving and compared it to the rest of the family.

"You!" Ramona said abruptly, pointing at Erinshane who jumped. "Open yourself. I need you for the circle. Every bit counts."

Erinshane glanced helplessly at her family. Aria sighed and straightened herself.

"Ramona Sedai, she's new. She does not know how to even embrace the Source, much less how to open herself to a circle."

Ramona Sedai drew herself up and glared at Aria who refused to budge under that frosty gaze. For a moment everything was completely still. Then Ramona Sedai turned around and returned to the table.

"I see. Why would they send me a useless novice? Go find yourself a teacher, girl, and come back when you can help me save lives."

Erinshane shot a grateful look at Aria, curtsied and all but ran out of the room.

Wandering about brought her to the West Wing where the Kinswomen slept and took care of the wounded. The place was less bustling than the Aes Sedai part of the Palace. The Kinswomen seemed to have a better grasp at staying organised and working together. Erinshane finally sat down in an alcove to look at the women working among the wounded. The smell of blood was thick in the air but it was probably less than it had been during the actual Last Battle. This was just the aftermath, the last few life-threatening cases and the less serious cases that would not heal properly on their own. Some of the wards were closed and being cleaned already. A couple of days at most and the novices and Accepted would follow the Aes Sedai to the White Tower. Until then, everyone's attention was on the wounded.

It frustrated Erinshane a little. She had written her name in the Novice book. She wanted to learn. When would they start teaching her?

"What are you doing here, child?" a kindly voice said from somewhere nearby.

Erinshane looked up to see Rosil Sedai. A little voice shrieked in panic inside her head but her body got up gracefully and curtsied appropriately.

"I was told to find someone to teach me so that I can be useful to Ramona Sedai, Rosil Sedai," she said smoothly and with a smile.

Rosil Sedai tsk-tsked.

"I should have remembered. Your family is not scheduled to have any lessons today or tomorrow as Ramona Sedai needs their strength. Follow me. I'll see if I can find you someone to quench a little your thirst for knowledge."

That got a genuine smile out of Erinshane.


	3. Leavetakings

A/N: Next update is likely to happen on 17th of September.

Update: I have a terrible writer's block and also very little time for writing. I try to update as soon as possible. The next chapter is well underway, at least.

**Leavetakings**

Thunder rumbled in the distance as cold, steady drizzle turned everything grey and muted. Wind was steadily growing in force and so everything pointed at a slowly approaching storm. The White Tower grounds, steadily turning vibrant green, were quiet except for an occasional cough and rustle that came from what had once been the Warder's training ground, now a building site. What had started as a palace for the Amyrlin, now lay abandoned, at least for the moment. It was already a formidable building, with the large, reinforced basement finished and the first floor already half-done. No construction worker had touched the building in months, however. The Last Battle had needed every man and woman available.

In front of the building's secondary entrance, a spacious area meant for the Amyrlin's new gardens, defying the weather, a large crowd of people patiently stood in a wide, semi-circle around an unlit bonfire.

Clad in their formal funeral attire, Aes Sedai and Warders stood in the middle, the most silent of the groups. They were solemn women and men, radiating restrained sorrow. On their left side, grieving novices who outnumbered the Aes Sedai several times over and equally mournful if somewhat more dignified Accepted, stood backs straight, each holding a fitfully glowing lantern in their hands. The lanterns were water-tight and would burn until the morning. On the right side stood servants and other people, a mixed lot. They too each held a lantern. Some had flowers as well. They displayed their emotions more freely than the novices and Accepted, some weeping openly.

No bodies had been brought to the White Tower grounds. Those had already been cremated. This was but a memorial service, a ceremony held in the honour of the dead Aes Sedai and their Warders. For every dead Aes Sedai, a shawl in her Ajah colours lay on the bonfire, and for each Warder, a wooden sword. The shawls covered the whole bonfire in several layers, numbering in hundreds.

The White Tower had suffered a loss from which it would take decades, if not centuries, to recover, just considering how many Sisters had been lost in the Last Battle. But that wasn't all.

On top of the bonfire lay a carefully folded Amyrlin's Stole, a stark contrast to the shawls beneath it. It seemed to make the loss even more bleak. A heavy price had been paid for the Victory.

Anastasya Norin stood among the few remaining Green Sisters, her hands clasped in front of her to keep them from shaking. She wore white ribbons looped around her arms, shining against her pale green dress. Kiril stood beside her, a thick white cloth around his arm that rested on Anastasya's tiny shoulder. He was a solid force in her mind, lending her his strength in her time of need despite his own sorrow.

Anastasya tried not to stare at the spot in the bonfire where she had placed Anton's sword but her eyes always returned back to it after a while. When they did, she felt an overwhelming sense of loss, remembering his death vividly. She could not keep sad, tiny sobs from escaping despite the commanding looks that Adelorna was giving her and everyone else.

The Captain-General was leaning heavily on her cane, unable to walk without it due to a grievous wound she had received from a Myrddraal after losing her last Warder. Without her ability to Travel she would have died. As it was, the injury had not healed properly even with the One Power. Only time would tell whether she regained her full mobility or not. Yet despite her losses, she was standing as straight as she could, a picture of Aes Sedai calm. Perhaps she sought to keep up appearances. Weakness was something a Green Sister was supposed to loath to show. Still, her knuckles were completely white as she clutched her cane, and her eyes shone with unshed tears. A proud woman, Adelorna.

It had been seven days since the Last Battle had been won. A new Amyrlin Seat had been chosen, somewhat hastily. She stood with the Hall, what remained of it, proud and regal. Cadsuane Melaidrin, Watcher of the Seals, the Flame of Tar Valon, the Amyrlin Seat. Beside her stood her Keeper of Chronicles, Samitsu Tamagowa of the Yellow Ajah. Cadsuane was known to favour competence over everything else, even her ties to her former Ajah. Anastasya did not feel particularly betrayed, however. Of the precious few Greens that remained only Adelorna and Elayne were eligible for the Keeper's title, and both of them were pointedly disinterested in the job.

Samitsu rapped the wet ground thrice with her staff. It made hardly a sound but whatever noise there had been, it disappeared.

"Hear the Amyrlin speak," she said, her voice a bare whisper in the darkening evening.

Cadsuane took a few unhurried steps forward, stopping just in front of the bonfire. Her hair-ornaments glinted in the fading light. Anastasya could barely see her face but the Amyrlin Seat radiated stern strength.

"The White Tower stands victorious," Cadsuane said, her voice severe and clear. It was well known that she did not tolerate any kind of nonsense, especially when it came to ceremonies. She was not pleased with anything she saw in the crowd, especially when it came to full Sisters. At least, that was the impression Anastasya got. "The Last Battle is over. Every last prophesy was fulfilled and with a cost. We paid dearly for the Victory. Over five hundred Aes Sedai gave their lives defending the Light. Several hundred Warders died for the sake of our freedom. We have not found all the bodies but dead or just missing, every woman and man fought bravely. Respect their sacrifice."

Cadsuane nodded to Samitsu who hurriedly brought her a scroll of paper. Cadsuane opened it and read the first line, a name of a fallen Sister.

"Egwene al'Vere," she said loudly, a touch of mournful pride in her voice, "the Amyrlin Seat. She reunited the White Tower, revolutionised our ways and perished fighting against Mazrim Taim and Sharan channelers. She took him and most of the enemy channelers with her, using a weave that countered balefire, yet another brilliant invention of hers. Her sacrifice saved us. She who never chose an Ajah returns in death to every Ajah. A woman truly of all Ajahs and none. Welcome her home as a Sister. When the time comes, may she be reborn to guide us again. Light shelter her."

A whispered prayer echoed among the gathered people and many wiped tears off their cheeks, servants and Aes Sedai alike. Egwene al'Vere had been highly regarded even among those who had opposed her, and even more so now that she had died a hero.

Other names followed the Amyrlin Seat. Over one hundred and seventy Green Sisters. Alanna, Beldeine, Faeldrin, Kiruna... so many names that Anastasya recognised well. Many had been her friends, some quite close ones.

Then there were almost as many dead Reds. Anastasya was ashamed to feel a tiny touch of small-minded glee. Tiny, but still there. Reds and Greens had been enemies for over two thousand years but it was shameful to feel anything else but regret. Anastasya made a mental note to set a suitably harsh penance for herself later.

Among the fallen were almost a hundred Greys, seventy Blues, sixty Browns, fifty Whites and only thirty Yellows who had escaped the massacre by performing their duty away from the battlefield. The Yellow Ajah that had once been only in the fifth place when it came to the size, was now in the first place, with over ninety surviving members. They were followed by the Browns with over seventy remaining members. Then came the Greys, with sixty members. After them were the Reds, the once largest Ajah dropped to the fourth place with only a few over fifty members. Reds were followed by Blues and Whites with some forty members. Then were the Greens, the once second-largest Ajah had become the smallest. It left a bitter taste in Anastasya's mouth.

Reds were the only Sisters that Anastasya had to remind herself to grieve. Hearing one familiar name after another slowly forced her to bow her head to hide the tears that wouldn't stop coming, no matter how many novice exercises she performed. She felt heart-wrenching sorrow. What had once been a large and proud institution now lay in shambles, its senior members dead, decades of accumulated knowledge and skill lost. It would take decades for it to recover. Decades that it might not have. The Seanchan loomed in the horizon, ready to leash every last woman in the White Tower and grind the building to dust. It was humiliating to think that soon every female channeler might have to live in fear, just because the White Tower hadn't been strong enough to deter the Seanchan from breaking the Dragon's Peace.

When Cadsuane finished the list, night had fallen. The wind was coming in gusts that carried icy water. It was raining so hard that the Tower's outline was blurred. Thunder rolled above, lightning flashing frequently. No Sister had created a shield against rain and wind, and everyone stood silently, soaked to skin. Lanterns still gave some faint light. Rain washed away tears and darkness gave cover to the Sisters that could not keep up solemn but calm appearances.

"Wheel of Time turns," Cadsuane intoned, her voice carrying over the storm, "what once was, will be again. Every fallen daughter and son of the Tower will be remembered as a hero. In the coming days we will need to remember their valour. The Tower still stands strong. May the Light shelter you, my daughters and sons."

Cadsuane then embraced saidar. A bright glow enveloped her and twelve strongest Sitters of the Hall. Leading the link, Cadsuane wove Fire and ignited the bonfire. Despite the wind and rain, flames quickly rose high, illuminating the white exterior of the Tower, making it almost glow in orange and golden shades. Shawls and wooden swords were soon devoured by the fire. The Amyrlin's Stole burned brightly on top of them. A few minutes later all that remained was some white ash.

Servants, novices and Accepted walked to the ashes that cooled quickly in the downpour, and started placing lanterns on the ground, forming the Flame of Tar Valon. Almost three thousand lanterns depicted the symbol impressively, covering a huge area beside the building site. When they were done, servants, novices and Accepted followed Rosil Sedai back inside, leaving the Aes Sedai and their Warders alone in the softly lighted night.

"Daughters," Cadsuane said after a while, harsh edge in her voice, "we are in a predicament. Our numbers are few, too few to impress. If we continue as we have, we may not survive. Therefore, the Hall and I have come to a conclusion. Your Ajah Heads will instruct you further. This is not a time for petty squabbling and clinging to the old ways. Go in the Light."

Anastasya almost stumbled when she began to move. Kiril was there, however, and kept his hand on her shoulder, steadying her. She followed her Sisters back to the White Tower, pleased to finally get out of the rain. Inside it was deliciously warm, and it got warmer when she got back to the Green Ajah quarters. Instead of being allowed to go to her apartment and at least change her clothes, however, she was told, in so many words, to follow Adelorna and leave her Warder behind.

Adelorna seemed to struggle with her cane somewhat. She favoured her left leg strongly and hobbled onwards gracelessly. Her manner was determined, however. Any Sister who attempted to help was coolly told off. She led the whole Ajah to their third-biggest war-hall, as their meeting halls were called, a large chamber that had been closed for centuries due to disuse. Now it was brightly illuminated and had been cleaned and refurnished recently.

"Sit," Adelorna barked. The chamber had dark green floor-tiles and white walls that had been decorated with dozens of weapons, collected from every country in the Westlands. Some were over two thousand years old. The ceiling was vaulted and decorated with intricately carved wooden beams. In the middle of the room was a large oval table and thirty-five seats around it. Anastasya sat down, instinctively choosing a seat that put her over halfway across the room from Adelorna, letting stronger Sisters choose a seat closer to the Ajah Head. Sitters sat beside Adelorna and then came the other Sisters in their order of strength and other attributes. Nobody ever said anything out loud. Everybody knew their place.

"The Amyrlin and the Hall have sent us a message," Adelorna said when the silence was perfect. "We are to choose sixteen Sisters from our numbers to serve as teachers to the novices for at least two years. When the time is up, other Sisters will replace those who wish to give up their position. Among these sixteen Sisters we may include those who took part to the deplorable kidnapping and subsequent abuse of the Dragon Reborn. These Sisters are given a choice. Either they will serve as teachers to the novices and Accepted for ten full years..."

Adelorna paused for a long breath, eyeing coldly some Sisters around the table, "...or you will be exiled to a farm, forbidden to channel, to work for ten years! I strongly encourage these Sisters to choose teaching. I know who you are."

Anastasya moved her head slowly from side to side, scanning the other Greens' faces, not finding anyone particularly guilty. She had known that some of her Ajah had participated in mistreating the Dragon Reborn but she didn't know who they were. Well, that would remain a mystery for some time yet.

Adelorna seemed to receive all the confirmation she needed, however.

"That is settled then. We need fourteen other Sisters from our Ajah to take on the mission that the Amyrlin and the Hall has given us. If there are volunteers, speak up. Otherwise, I will make the choice myself."

There was a deafening silence. Anastasya was slowly starting to feel dread. She wasn't among the fifteen weakest Sisters in attendance but she was very skilled at battle-weaves. Surely the Hall and the Amyrlin did not want her to teach the novices and Accepted such things?

"As there are no volunteers, I will now nominate those who will serve as teachers. Vasha, Hattori, you are our first choices. Kera and Bharatine, you too. Anastasya, Erian, Irgain, Jala, Nimri, Weylana, Liril, Bethene, Halean, Meryle and Asra." Some of the names raised eyebrows. Anastasya's heart sank as she heard her name mentioned. She did not want to be tied up with the White Tower affairs for the next two years.

"Leane, you I make the Monitor. It is a title given to the leader of the Ajah's teachers. Rosil requested one from each Ajah and the Hall acquiesced. The Monitor's responsibility is to observe the novices and Accepted, and report to the Mistress of Novices, telling her which novice is struggling with her studies and which Accepted is ready to be Raised. She will also help to familiarise the other teachers with the changes that apparently are going to happen soon."

Quite a few pairs of eyebrows shot up. Leane looked serene and accepting. Anastasya collected her jaw from the floor before anyone noticed her astonishment. Leane was far weaker than Erian, far weaker than Anastasya even, but still Adelorna had set her above them. Well, perhaps strength wasn't everything. Leane had once been a Keeper and so she had to be quite capable.

"That is all, Sisters," Adelorna said, slapping her hand to the table to reclaim their attention. "Those whose names have been mentioned will report to Rosil in the morning. You are dismissed, Sisters."

Anastasya got up, feeling wobbly. She managed a perfunctory curtsey to Adelorna who was slowly getting up, leaning on the table and cursing under her breath.

* * *

Kiril was waiting outside Anastasya's rooms. He had his own in the Barracks and was eager to return there but his concern for Anastasya overrode his need for sharing some good ale and stories with the other Warders.

"Rough night," Anastasya muttered when they got inside. She massaged her temples, feeling disgruntled. Being saddled with a teaching job made her angry. Adelorna definitely knew how much Anastasya disliked children and teaching in general. This could have been some sort of petty revenge for something Anastasya had done a long time ago but that wasn't like Adelorna. The woman was probably just trying to represent the Green Ajah the best she could and so chose women who had diverse skills, regardless of their personal preferences on the matter.

Kiril poured her some mulled wine and brought her a towel. Anastasya accepted both gratefully, drying her nearly bald head. Patches of very short stubble covered it already but scars caused by burns were going to be there forever. Her hair wasn't going to be as full as it had once been. She did not mourn the loss. Short, sparse hair was much easier to manage.

"I am supposed to teach some mule-headed novices and Accepted for the next two years," Anastasya growled and drank some of the wine. It tasted delicious after months of vinegary swill. "Rosil will probably expect me to teach them how to light the candle and put it out, over and over again until I go crazy. I'll snap and start murdering people and acting on my natural instincts. I'll be a perfect killing machine. I don't want to be a perfect killing machine, Kiril. It's not good for my mental health."

Anastasya sighed resignedly.

"It could be worse. I could have been one of the fools who were involved in kidnapping al'Thor. I could be serving as a teacher for the next ten years."

Kiril, who had remained silent, whistled quietly.

"So, what's the escape plan, then?" he asked nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just suggested disobeying Adelorna, the Hall and the Amyrlin Seat.

Anastasya shrugged.

"Pack our things, make a Gateway somewhere nice and quiet, maybe right in the middle of a horde of Trollocs, and stay out of the Tower for the next hundred years."

Kiril opened his mouth to ask for details but closed it again when he remembered that Anastasya's Oaths left room for resigned sarcasm.

"So, that's it, then?" Kiril asked, sounding indignant. "You are going to allow someone make decisions for you? After all those drunken nights when you sobbed against my shoulder, saying that you want to go adventuring but feel like it's less appealing now that Anton's gone? That you are afraid of disrespecting his memory? After all those times I reassured you that it's what he would have wanted? You have been getting ready for the Last Battle for decades. You deserve a break. Don't let the Hall or the Amyrlin tell you what you should do."

Anastasya downed the wine that remained in her cup and let Kiril refill it. She had tears in her eyes. Any mention of Anton's name felt like a stab in her soul. Maybe being a teacher was a fitting penance for not mourning the Red Sisters properly.

"No, no, no, don't you get all resigned on me. You wanted to see mountains, Anastasya Sedai. Mountains! You are not going to see them here. I have heard that teaching novices is much like herding cats. Frustrating, thankless and time-consuming. You are not meant to carry such burdens."

Anastasya was halfway done with her second cup. Kiril sat down in front of her and took her hand in his, gazing at her pleadingly.

"Please, Aunt. Don't let them cow you."

He had called her his Aunt only once, back when his father died and he and Anton asked her to bond them as her Warders.

Anastasya sniffled, tears falling freely on her cheeks. Kiril was so earnest. He did not care about the Tower politics. He just wanted her to be happy, for a fleeting moment at least. His loyalty was rooted in Anastasya's ability to follow her heart and do as she wished, and to the Pit of Dhoom with consequences.

"Very well," Anastasya choked out and wiped her face with her sleeve which was already wet. "We will leave in the small hours of the morning."

Kiril grinned and started swiftly packing their things.

* * *

Anastasya had not slept well. After a long day, she had been exhausted and a warm bath had almost made her doze off but a mere thought at having to teach novices had made her stomach curl up and try to crawl out of her mouth, making sleeping quite an impossibility. What little sleep she had got only made her groggier.

She was slowly making her way out of the White Tower. Making a Gateway in her own apartment would have been easier but it would have attracted attention. She could have masked her ability, readied the weave and then formed it but there were those among the Sisters who could read residues. So she had masked her ability and changed her face and Kiril's and inverted the weaves. They looked like a pair of servants, a young woman and a slightly older man, walking briskly, avoiding Aes Sedai and servants who seemed to be everywhere. Anastasya could hear her heart pounding in her ears, so loud that she was certain someone would soon come running to see what the noise was. She had never had to leave the Tower unnoticed. She had not realised how difficult it actually was, even now that the Pattern had been repaired and everything was where it should be.

Most novices who tried to run away did so during the day rather than night, and now the reason was obvious. Not five minutes passed without at least one Aes Sedai being seen in the corridors and the Tower servants were performing their cleaning duties, washing the floors and wiping surfaces, bustling about like bees in their hive.

Still, Anastasya persevered. Kiril only seemed amused at her sweating. There were so many servants that they certainly did not all know each other. A new servant or two would go unnoticed. She kept telling herself that, almost believing it. She was certain she could feel the servants' eyes on her back when she passed a group dusting one particularly large wall-hanging depicting an ancient Aes Sedai and her Warder riding out of the Tower across one of the Bridges.

Yet, nobody stopped her or Kiril as they made their way out of the Tower. Anastasya let out a sigh of relief when she saw one of the smaller doors that led out of the Tower. It opened to a small garden right beside the novice wing. From there it would be but a hop, skip and a jump to the front gate. Anastasya could almost smell freedom.

"I never thought sneaking around was such a chore," Anastasya muttered to Kiril who grinned.

"You should have seen me and Anton in Tanchico five years ago when we had to get to the Panarch's Palace. You were nursing a headache that you got in a tavern brawl, remember? We sneaked in and got the helmets you wanted, and almost got caught by the head-cook. I was more nervous than ever in the Blight. That woman could have scared Trollocs!"

Anastasya snickered at the story, trying to cover the mournful feeling she got at the mention of Anton's name. Then her ears perked up, figuratively. She sensed a strong woman nearby.

"Act casual," she whispered to Kiril who immediately started chatting inanely, a besotted youthful man trying to woo a young woman. Anastasya scanned her surroundings and her heart sank as she saw the last person she had wanted to meet on her way out.

The dark sky was still overcast but light spilled out of the windows, illuminating thick fog that lay on the lush, green grass like a woollen blanket. Cadsuane Melaidhrin was casually strolling in the gardens and giving Anastasya a reproachful look, one eyebrow raised. Anastasya curtsied hastily and muttered, "good morning, Mother." Kiril followed the suit.

She was so very doomed if Cadsuane saw through her disguise.

"Good morning, my daughter, my son," Cadsuane replied, a ghost of a smile passing on her lips. Anastasya shivered. She had not talked to this legend in years. She had attended some of the woman's lectures as an Accepted, a century or so ago. Surely the woman would not remember Anastasya's mannerisms.

"A chilly morning, I'd say," Anastasya said, feeling like an idiot, chatting about the weather with the most influential woman in the Westlands. Cadsuane simply smiled. She looked like a stern mother amused by her child's antics.

"Indeed it is," Cadsuane murmured. She then channeled briefly and poked at Anastasya's disguise that promptly unravelled. Anastasya gasped out loud and clapped her hands over her mouth to keep herself from embarrassing herself any further.

"This might not be what it looks like," she managed to say, stumbling over her words as she tried to evade her Oaths.

"I thought so," Cadsuane said gravely. "This will not do, daughter. You are going to be late for your meeting with Rosil if you leave now on some errand. She might pitch a fit if any of her teachers skip the first conference. If you go back inside now, I'll refrain from asking why you were wearing a Mirror of Mists and hiding your ability."

Anastasya acquiesced silently and curtsied. Cadsuane nodded to her and continued her strolling.

"It is unfortunate that some of our most adventurous souls have been forced to settle down for such a long while," Cadsuane murmured, as if to herself. "Some have no other choice but to accept that their roguish life is over while others still have many years left and will go on an adventure again one day. Two years will pass quickly."

Anastasya blushed. Cadsuane was strongly implying that Anastasya was being childish. Well, maybe she was. Cadsuane herself was an archetypical Green, a free soul who loved adventure. She had to be feeling sour about being raised to the staff and stole. A she-wolf in a cage. Anastasya suppressed a shiver.

"Come, Kiril," Anastasya muttered. "Let's get some sleep while we can. This is going to be a long day."

Silently she swore to escape when she had a chance. She was certain that Cadsuane would understand while Rosil might not. Then again, Adelorna would first have her hide and then get nasty. Staining the Green Ajah's honour was a serious offence. Anastasya did not want to know what sort of a conversation had happened between Adelorna and the poor fools who had abused al'Thor. Anastasya shivered again and shied away from that line of thought. Adelorna was not known for lenience. Perhaps Anastasya should just accept her fate for now. It made a nice penance, after all.

* * *

Anastasya stifled a yawn that threatened to unhinge her jaws. She was sitting in the Oval Lecture Hall, waiting for the other Greens to arrive. The Yellows and Reds were there already, many wearing their everyday shawls and chatting gaily among themselves. They were two quite curious groups. The Yellows were all new to their shawls and quite weak while among the Reds were many who stood equal to or higher than Anastasya. She recognised Covarla, Chisaine, Innina, Janine, Lusonia, Vayelle and Sashalle. The rest in their group were young, relatively weak and timid-looking. Anastasya speculated whether all those strong Sisters had all been involved in kidnapping al'Thor. Surely not.

Anastasya wondered if she should have brought her shawl. She was certain that the walls between the Ajahs were slowly crumbling and that nobody expected her to show off her Ajah anymore. Still, seeing the other Greens arrive without their shawls was a relief. Well, Halean, Weylana and Asra were wearing theirs but they were new to the shawl anyway.

Leane sat down beside Anastasya, her beautiful face serene. Nothing seemed to ruffle the willowy Domani.

"Why are you here so early?" Leane asked, not turning to look at Anastasya. Her voice was honey on the edge of a steel blade. Her voice always had some honey in it.

"I could not sleep," Anastasya replied, side-stepping the truth. She was there early because she wanted to make sure Cadsuane thought her cowed.

Leane smiled in a commiserating way. She was a nice person if quite a bit flighty, in the Domani way. For the umpteenth time Anastasya wondered why Adelorna had put her in charge.

Rosil appeared some time later, after the White and Blue Sisters arrived together. Browns and Greys followed her inside, keeping a short distance between the groups. She looked exhausted like a packhorse with too heavy a burden but she kept her back straight as she strode to the podium. She was followed by two female servants who were carrying stacks of plain pamphlets.

"Sisters," she said, her voice brisk, "good morning. I am going to make this quick so that you can start getting ready for your duties."

The servants started swiftly distributing the pamphlets, moving agilely between the stone benches.

"These pamphlets contain information about the changes that are going to happen in the near future, concerning the novice education and the way the Tower recruits female channelers. The novices will now awaken at five o'clock and the breakfast will be served at six. The first class starts at seven. A class may span any multiple of forty-five minutes, at the maximum of three, and there must be a fifteen minute break every forty-five minutes or alternatively the class ends fifteen minutes earlier for each skipped pause. This will ensure that the novices remain attentive and keep up with the lecture. There is time for five one-hour classes before lunch which will be served at noon. After lunch, classes resume at one o'clock and continue until five o'clock when dinner is served. After this, novices will do chores until eight o'clock when supper is served or, if they are particularly quick or slow with their studies, they may attend extra lessons. Curfew starts at nine. Are there any questions regarding this new system?"

Astonished silence reigned in the Oval Lecture Hall. Anastasya exchanged disconcerted glances with the other Green Sisters, some of whom were gaping at Rosil unabashedly. The Yellow was suggesting to fix something that wasn't broken. No, not suggesting. She was straight up telling them that the system was going to change whether they liked it or not.

The Yellows sitting among the other press-ganged teachers were not showing any surprise. They were actually looking quite smug. Now that Anastasya thought about it, they were all very fresh and had avidly supported Egwene and the changes she had made. They had known what was coming. They had probably even helped to devise the thing.

Anastasya did not really oppose change. That wasn't her cup of tea. She went with the flow. However, she could not feel but a little bit apprehensive. For three thousand years novices had been kept as busy and tired as possible and now someone was suggesting to ease their workload a bit. The old system worked just fine. It winnowed out those who weren't fit to be Aes Sedai and strengthened the rest.

And, most importantly, if Anastasya had had to go through it, everyone else should as well.

"Has the Hall and the Amyrlin approved this decision?" Covarla asked, her shawl's long red fringe swaying as she stood up, her hands clasped in front of her. She had regained some of her confidence after Elaida had gone missing.

Rosil nodded solemnly.

"They have. The Amyrlin praised the new system and wanted it implemented immediately. Any disapproval you feel toward the new system you may take up with her."

Covarla sat down slowly, looking decidedly resigned. If Cadsuane approved of the changes, there was nothing that could stop them from happening.

"If that's all, we shall continue," Rosil then said, after a moment of silence. "The next item is the syllabus. Every subject taught in the White Tower has been arranged into courses that every novice must complete before advancing to the next level. In the future, this change might be expanded to affect the Accepted as well. This new syllabus will even out the differences between the novices and so everyone will be at the same level when they are Tested for Acceptance. They will not be Tested before they have completed every course, no matter how ready they might otherwise be. This ensures that every novice knows how much longer she has to go before she can become an Accepted and makes sure that they can easily continue their studies as Accepted, with basic knowledge about everything. Naturally, this system will take into account the fact that not every novice can become an Accepted. They will be allowed to complete every course that is not related to channeling and progress as far as they can otherwise. They will then be sent to the Kin. We will no longer throw the girls out unceremoniously. They will be part of the Tower, either as Aes Sedai or as Kinswomen."

Rosil paused to sip some water that had been placed behind the podium before the conference started. She seemed oblivious to the glares that some older Aes Sedai were giving to her. They probably saw her as a harbinger of chaos and destruction of the good old ways.

"I have written the name, the summary and the duration of each course in the pamphlet. The summary will tell you what every novice must know once she has completed the course. How she learns it, that's your concern. At the end of every course you must test the novice's understanding, to make sure that she has truly assimilated the knowledge. However you choose to test her, make certain to include it in the report that you'll give me at the end of the course. The duration means over how many hours the course will span, taking account of how many hours the novice spends studying on her own. You may use those hours as you see fit, provided that all of the course's objectives are attained."

It was quite a lot to take in. Anastasya could see how all this would improve the future Aes Sedai but she was worried that the Tower might not be able to pull it off. Glancing at her Sisters did nothing to lessen her worries. Some looked uneasy, others downright rebellious. Rosil's steady gaze was keeping them quiet for now, but when she eventually allowed them to speak, there would be many heated objections. Anastasya wanted nothing more but to be allowed to leave before that debate began. It would be just as graceful as a particularly rowdy tavern brawl.

"That concludes the novice education and we move on to the recruitment. The Hall has decided to keep the Novice book open to all women. At the moment the White Tower has one thousand and fifty-three novices. This number was achieved through an active search of eligible women of all ages. Previously the White Tower has recruited passively, waiting for the women to come to us. This will no longer be the case. Every Ajah has nominated sixteen women to become teachers for the new generation but I actually need only seventy Sisters. The others will form search-parties that will roam the countryside searching for female channelers."

Anastasya's heart missed a beat. She felt a sudden glimmer of hope.

"Sisters may conduct the search alone if they wish. Keep in mind, however, that you must bring every willing woman to the White Tower. No exceptions. It does not matter if they are grandmothers eight times over or wilders or both. If they have the ability and are willing to learn, they are welcome to become novices. You will give me a report of your findings whenever you return to the White Tower. You are expected to return at least once every two months. Record the names of the women who have the ability and are willing to learn, and those who have the ability but are unwilling to come to the Tower for whatever reason. The latter will be contacted again once a year has passed. The former you will bring as soon as possible to the White Tower. Remember this: I will ask you whether you brought every willing female channeler you found. You may only answer yes or no. I will also ask whether you gave the search your best effort. Again, yes or no. If one of the answers is 'no', the Amyrlin will discuss it with you. I do not know what that will entail. That's enough of warnings. You may decide among yourselves who will become a 'Searcher'. Only six members of each Ajah, however."

Anastasya instantly gave Leane a pleading look. Surprisingly, hers was the only one. Anastasya gave Erian and the other stronger Greens a puzzled look. They weren't in a hurry to leave the White Tower, for whatever reason.

"Well, you may become a Searcher, Anastasya," Leane said, like a mother to an eager child. Anastasya led it slide. Leane had been set above her after all. Leane then turned around to regard the other Greens expectantly.

Nimri was the first one to nod. Leane put up four fingers and wiggled them, still looking expectant. After a while, Bharatine nodded as well and she was closely followed by Jala. Vasha looked like she was about to speak up but she was silenced by a stern look from Leane. Kera nodded then. Leane still had one finger up.

"Anyone else?" she asked, sounding tentative. Halean sighed and nodded. Anastasya wondered why they weren't more excited to be allowed to escape the teaching duty.

What if, Light forbid, they were looking forward to teaching?

Anastasya dismissed the notion as purely impossible.

"Very well, Leane said, "we have our six. Anastasya, Nimri, Bharatine, Jala, Kera and Halean will leave the Tower as Searchers. Light and luck go with you, Sisters."

Anastasya whistled merrily as she repacked her things. After a relaxing day discussing search patterns and methods with her fellow Searchers and a good night's sleep she felt reborn. Well, she had cried alone in her sleeping chamber for three hours, masking the bond so that Kiril would not get worried. But in the end, she had been unable to keep her misery to herself and Kiril had brought her a shot of strong brandy with some herbs that had mercifully knocked her out.

Grief would lessen as the time passed, that she knew. At least she still had Kiril who in many ways kept Anton alive. It helped her to get through the day but at night, when she was alone, she would fully realise that Anton's presence in her head was truly gone.

She sniffled and wiped her moistening eyes with her handkerchief, trying to distract herself from sad thoughts. Well, at least she was getting out of the Tower. The atmosphere there felt quite suffocating with all the political intrigue and unnecessary complexity. Some Sisters were complaining about the changes that Rosil Sedai had wrought, though Anastasya could see no point in it. The Hall and the Amyrlin had made their decision. What was there to complain about?

Kiril came in, whistling just like Anastasya had a while ago. He had a new sword in his scabbard, good Andoran steel with a heronmark. He had earned that mark many years ago, training in the White Tower.

"So, are we ready to go?" he asked, jiggling his own bedroll and saddlebags.

"Soon. I need to report to Adelorna first. Then we are good to go. The horses are ready, I assume?"

Kiril nodded.

"The best horses I could find. There aren't many left. I guess most of them were eaten before and during the Last Battle."

Anastasya hoisted her saddlebags on her shoulder and grabbed her bedroll. Her saddlebags were heavy with necessary items, such as a big towel, a fan and a good knife which she had received from her mother as a gift when she had become an Aes Sedai. It still gleamed like new and was sharper than most knives. She had used the One Power to hone its blade. It did not count as making weapons with the One Power in her opinion, no matter what certain Sisters might say. It was just a knife, used for cutting and carving things. She did not even know how to use it as a proper weapon.

"Let's go annoy Adelorna," Anastasya said, putting a good hat on her head and strolling out of her apartments, purpose in her stride.

* * *

Adelorna gave her a sour look when she entered. The Head of Ajah had a harassed look about her. Her writing table was covered with papers, ink jars and discarded quills, an organised mess.

"About time. The others have already left," Adelorna grumbled, taking out a stack of official-looking papers. "Here are your things. Do remember to return at the end of the second month. I'd hate to send someone to drag you back to the White Tower kicking and screaming."

Anastasya took her papers and stuffed them in her pocket without giving them a second look. Adelorna was glaring at her in a most un-Aes Sedai-like fashion, obviously in ill temper.

"What is it, Captain-General?" Anastasya asked, keeping her tone neutral and careful not to say anything that could be interpreted as disrespectful. She did not need a penance to delay her departure.

"Nothing. Light shelter you, Anastasya. Have a nice journey," Adelorna said, some annoyance in her voice, and turned her attention back to her papers. Anastasya did not quite sniff. Adelorna wasn't supposed to be jealous of Anastasya's position but maybe her duties as the Head of the Ajah chafed her. Well, that was her problem.

Anastasya was free!

She almost skipped down the corridor, Kiril in tow. She did remember that she was an Aes Sedai, not a young girl at the first dance, but she was just so very happy to be finally leaving the place.

"We should go to Murandy first. It's right beside Altara, the centre of the Seachan power on this side of the Aryth Ocean. If they break the Dragon's Peace, they will first gobble up Murandy and leash every woman they can get their hands on. Of course, Illian and Arad Doman are right next on the list. Murandy is just an easier target."

Kiril kept nodding, not really listening to her. The bundle of feelings that was him told her that quite easily. Anastasya did not mind, however. He went where she went, not really caring for anything else but her safety. Anton would have asked more questions but that wasn't Kiril's way.

Anastasya sighed heavily as she thought about Anton. She performed a novice exercise to calm herself. Bawling in a public place was far too humiliating now, several days after her Warder's death. Aes Sedai were expected to either keep up appearances or stay out of sight.

That was another reason she really wanted to be gone yesterday. There were too many expectations to be satisfied inside the White Tower. Nobody noticed if you met them but Light help you if you didn't...

* * *

Their horses waited for them outside, two mounts and a fully laden packhorse. They weren't the best animals Anastasya had seen but they would do. It would take years for the Tairen horse breeding to revive and good Andoran horses seemed to have gone extinct within the last few months. There were very few horses left outside the military. Most had been eaten if they had not starved to death first.

"Did the stables refuse to give you war-trained horses?" Anastasya asked as Kiril lifted her onto the saddle. The placid animal, a white mare with fluffy, brown mane that had tiny bells in it, did not even flick its ear as she collected its reins. Kiril fastened her saddlebags and bedroll to the back of the saddle. It was so great to have a tall Warder.

"Well, these are actually war-trained," Kiril said, readying his own horse. "They survived the Last Battle and didn't go crazy along the way. They won't panic at the first sight of Trollocs but, well, I am not really expecting to see any that far south. Elayne Sedai has several parties hunting those that might have escaped when Caemlyn died."

Anastasya nodded absentmindedly, clicked her tongue and cantered out of the front gate. The streets were full of people but they made way for an Aes Sedai. She did not slow down until they reached the outskirts of Darein.

"Nobody is chasing us, right?" she asked, looking around suspiciously. The Last Battle and the events before it had given her a paranoid streak a kilometre wide.

"No," Kiril said and put his spyglass away. He had come to share many of her traits over the years. "Just common travellers on the road and nobody looks overtly common. Let's Travel, then."

Anastasya took a deep breath and calmed herself with more novice exercises. Then she embraced the Source and wove the weave for Travelling, targeting the Caemlyn Travelling grounds, their first stop. It fell apart instead of forming. Anastasya frowned and tried again, with the same result. She had spent enough time around Darein to know the land so that couldn't be the issue. Then she thought about how much Caemlyn had changed and sighed in resignation. It was a conceptual limitation but combined with her lack of Talent, it made the whole thing impossible.

"I cannot make the weave work," she confessed. Kiril made a surprised noise. "I tried to take us to Caemlyn Travelling grounds but of course that wouldn't work, the place has changed too much. I honestly haven't spent enough time there to know the city well enough to take us elsewhere. For all I know, the Travelling grounds are beneath tons of rubble. I could try to form it nearby but I'd hazard causing an accident. Better not try."

Kiril nodded slowly.

"Can you take us to some other city? Illian? Lugard? Perhaps the Four Kings?"

Anastasya shook her head.

"I have never been to any of those. It seems that we have to walk. You packed us enough provisions, I trust? Or do we have to go back?"

Kiril nodded and patted his saddlebags and nodded at the packhorse.

"We have enough for several months, just in case. Let's ride, then. It's going to be a long journey."

Anastasya smiled a little.

"That's good, actually. I wanted to do some sight-seeing on the way anyway. Let's just make sure that nobody is actually following us. I feel... itchy."

"Why so paranoid, Anastasya Sedai?" Kiril asked, scanning the countryside without appearing to do so.

Anastasya shrugged. She had a gnawing feeling that she was missing something.

"I am not certain. Adelorna seemed very suspicious of me. She tried to stop me from leaving the Tower. I did not fight with the other Greens. I wasn't at the White Tower when the Purge happened. I re-swore my Oaths afterwards but only the Hall witnessed that. Perhaps she doubts my loyalty to her."

With a sinking feeling Anastasya realised what else Adelorna's behaviour might mean.

"She thinks that I'm a Darkfriend?" Anastasya shrieked, almost on top of her lungs. Startled birds took flight from surrounding bushes. Their horses gave no other reaction but a flick or two of their ears.

Kiril snorted and patted Anastasya on her head. His hand was big enough to cover her whole scalp. Anastasya straightened her hat, miffed.

"Come now, Anastasya Sedai, that's ridiculous. Adelorna Sedai just wanted you to teach battle-weaves to the Accepted. She was disappointed when you managed to weasel out of that."

Anastasya took a deep breath and muttered curses under her breath. Well, it was quite ridiculous, of course. If Adelorna suspected something like that, Anastasya would not have left the Tower.

They rode on in silence, sharing a companionship that did not need many words.

* * *

It was late afternoon on the third day when they saw something of a refugee camp. It was quite large, with livestock pens on its both sides. The grey and brown tents stood in straight lines, streets of hard dirt running between them, packed with people. Anastasya could hear the clang of blacksmith's anvil over the hum of people and loud shrieks of children playing ball on a meadow nearby. Behind the camp there was a building site of sort, though what they were building Anastasya could not see.

"This makes me curious," Anastasya said. "Let's take a closer look."

They rode down to the camp and dismounted, leading their horses further in. Close up, the camp looked more like a sizeable village. People were going about their chores and chatting with each other. The bigger tents housed shops and common rooms of sort. Anastasya saw a small, portable forge, the blacksmith himself working on some tool and his apprentices making nails as fast as they could. On the other side of the street from the forge was a large tent with bright green and red ribbons tied to its front poles. Dried herbs hung above the entrance and inside the tent the ceiling seemed to be covered with them. A woman in her late thirties was sitting outside, grinding some herbs with a mortar. She looked Andoran, with a long, dark braid and fair skin. She was wearing a darkish red dress and a bright yellow apron over it.

She apparently had two apprentices, two girls who were both about twenty years old. One was from Tanchico, with golden yellow hair in thin braids and strikingly blue eyes, and the other was a Kandori, with straight black hair and slightly tilted dark eyes. They were both inside, reading a stack of notes and comparing herbs to them. Their dresses were bright yellow with roses embroidered on the hemlines.

Anastasya stopped right in the middle of the street and stared at them without appearing to do so. People streamed past her and some bumped into her but she did not mind. That close she could sense the Andoran woman's ability, tiny and untrained, a wilder's ability. She had the potential to surpass Kerene if not Cadsuane. She had found herself two young apprentices who both shared the trait. The Taraboner was potentially strong enough to meet Cadsuane's strength but not Elayne's, and the Kandori, the potentially strongest of the three, would surpass Elayne, almost reaching Nynaeve. It wasn't unusual to see a wilder as a Wisdom or a Reader, and young wilders as their students were just as common. The kinship a female channeler felt toward another channeler was a huge factor in that. It was purely instinctive. Anastasya shivered, almost getting goose-bumps.

Anastasya grinned and gave her horse's reins to Kiril. Kiril sensed her elation, nodded to her with a similar grin and set out to find them a place to stay at for a few days. Anastasya dry-washed her hands for a moment, observing the Andoran woman and her apprentices. They seemed to be quite busy, handing out poultices and salves to people who came in and checking their health through traditional methods. The apprentices were already well-trained and could work mostly on their own. It seemed like a fine establishment, especially for a place like a refugee camp. Anastasya glided across the street to take a closer look, arranging her face to convey mystery and genial aloofness.

"Good afternoon, Wisdom," she said to the Andoran woman who looked up sharply from her work. Her dark eyes had lines around them and dark spots underneath. She had friendly if permanently concerned features. She got up as Anastasya came closer but did not curtsey. Andoran Wisdoms were generally thought to be quite assertive, a good trait if properly refined.

"The name is Alanea," the woman said, offering her hand as a greeting. Anastasya shook it. The woman had a strong grip. "How can I help you?"

Anastasya glanced at the two apprentices who were gaping at her unabashedly. Well, she did have quite fine clothes.

"Do you have some sort of a village council around here? Or a women's council, that's even better. I have some things that I would like to discuss with them, concerning educational matters."

Alanea's eyebrows climbed up. She looked Anastasya up and down, and her eyes stopped on Anastasya's Great Serpent ring. Anastasya hadn't forgotten to take it off, really. It just had slipped her mind.

"You are an Aes Sedai," Alanea gasped, quietly. Anastasya's stomach started to sink. She heard anxiety in the woman's voice. Anxiety was quite alright but it was all too often followed by outright fear or distaste or both.

"That is true, Alanea," Anastasya said, not quite sighing, trying to appear non-threatening. She was a head and shoulders shorter than the woman but since she was an Aes Sedai, that did not matter. "But most of the stories you may have heard are not so. Except for the not being able to lie part."

"You are an Aes Sedai," Alanea repeated with a low voice. She sounded anxious but not yet fearful or distasteful. More like... excited. Alanea was excited to be talking to an Aes Sedai. Anastasya did not show her surprise. That would have ruined her image of a short but mysterious Sister. "Yes, yes we have a Women's Circle," she said louder. "Set it up on the day we came here. I can call the member's to our crafting tent. They'll be most pleased to meet you."

Alanea then turned to her apprentices who snapped back to work, pretending that they hadn't been gawking at all.

"You two mind the shop while I show this lady to our crafting tent. If old Mils comes by, give him the red bottle. It tastes bad but that's because I put something extra in. Tell him that, and that it's because he's too often too deep in his pitcher. He had better get sober soon or I and my broomstick will visit him and give him a thumping."

Meeting old Mils alone seemed to terrify the two apprentices quite a lot since both they swallowed as they nodded dutifully, air of determination hanging heavily about them. Alanea nodded, apparently satisfied with their responses.

"Come now, lady," she said to Anastasya. "Please follow me. I did not quite catch your name, lady...?"

"Anastasya," Anastasya said, glancing about, "Anastasya Norin. From Kandor." She noted that she might start babbling soon. She was not used to people reacting positively to Aes Sedai.

"Well, lady Anastasya," Alanea said slowly, "you certainly surprised me there. I have never seen a woman of your station up close. I have heard, however, about the great deeds that certain people of your station did during the Last Battle. Changed my mind and many others' about your kind."

Anastasya listened avidly but did not let it show. So common people were starting to think that the Aes Sedai weren't complete monsters. That was definitely good news and would make her job quite a lot easier.

"Please, wait here," Alanea said, stopping in front of one nondescript tent. It was just as brown and patched as the others. Large enough for several tables, however. Alanea opened the tent-flap and peered inside, letting Anastasya past her. The tent had flap-covered holes in its ceiling, tied open to let the light in, and one wide table stood right in the middle, surrounded by rickety chairs. Bolts of fabric lay on the table along with half-finished clothes. Anastasya saw dresses similar to those that Alanea's apprentices had worn.

"We make clothes here for those who don't have any," Alanea said, standing in the doorway still holding the flap open, getting a surprised look from Anastasya. "We also offer food and work to those who come here. We are going to build a town here. We will call it Ayende which means 'freedom', I guess. Learned some Old Tongue from a passing bard years ago. Anyway, wait here, Aes Sedai." She whispered the name with some reverence. Anastasya straightened her back, feeling some tiny surge of pride. "I'll be back once I find the other women. Most of them feel like I do about Aes Sedai. Some are still uncertain. Please do impress them, Anastasya Sedai."

Anastasya smiled soothingly, keeping her face serene despite the sudden pang of trepidation.

"Don't worry, Alanea. I have seen my share of angry mobs. I think I can handle a stubborn woman or two."

Alanea nodded gravely and let the flap drop. It didn't get noticeably darker inside the tent. Anastasya found herself a chair that was least likely to suddenly fold underneath her. She squashed her nervousness with yet more novice exercises. She was acting like a Sister fresh to her shawl! That wouldn't do, especially now that she was about to meet women of importance.

So they were going to set up a town less than three days of sedate riding from Tar Valon? They were still within Tar Valon's area of control. The White Tower wasn't going to prohibit them from living there but perhaps Anastasya could get some sort of arrangement happen. Like having every girl visit the White Tower when she turned sixteen. That would definitely win the Greens some clout in the Hall.

She waited for almost half an hour. She made sure that the first woman entering the tent saw her sitting patiently, looking like tranquility personified. It was Alanea, carrying a basket in her other hand and with the other beckoning someone to follow her. Behind Alanea came six elderly women, each wearing pristine white aprons over their dresses. Two of them, probably twin-sisters, had completely grey hair held in a tight bun while one had only traces of grey on her temples. One had white, wispy hair that trailed behind her like a cloud. The last two still had fully coloured hair, one dark, one fair. All of them were more or less wrinkled.

Anastasya got up slowly, nodding to the women as they entered the tent. They eyed her up and down, the white-haired being the only one to spot her ring and understand its meaning. She raised her white eyebrows, blue eyes going wide, but said nothing. A tiny, pleased smile appeared on her lips.

Alanea was the first one to sit. She had a tall wooden staff with her, carved with flowers and decorated with red and green ribbons.

"Please do sit, ladies," she said, "we haven't got the whole day. Anastasya Sedai here is a busy woman and I don't want to waste her time."

The honorific caused gasps and wide eyes. Anastasya tried not to giggle. It was funny to see elderly, perhaps somewhat pompous, women flutter like novices.

"You told us some noblewoman wanted to meet us," the woman with greying temples hissed quietly to Alanea, obviously thinking Anastasya couldn't hear. Alanea pursed her lips.

"I said that lady Anastasya wants to meet you. I didn't say she's a noblewoman. But she's an Aes Sedai. I couldn't say her honorific out loud where some foolish old men might hear. Didn't want the sort of trouble that might bring. Satisfied, Elsie? Sit down before you make a fool of all of us."

The woman, Elsie, huffed, sniffed and sat down gingerly, straightening the chair's legs before placing her whole weight on it.

"So what is this about?" the white-haired woman said with a thin voice. The other women helped her to sit. Alanea took out a pot of tea and eight cups from her basket, and poured some for every woman before answering.

"Anastasya Sedai will probably tell us more once we get the introductions out of the way. This is Melsia, out eldest," she said nodding at the white-haired woman who nodded to Anastasya. "On her right are Kari and Jani," the twin-sisters, "and on her left are Elsie," the one with the grey temples, "Wera," the dark-haired woman, "and Nerica," the fair-haired woman. "We are the Women's Circle here in Ayende. Please, tell us what is your business here. We will try to help."

Elsie snorted derisively and earned a hard look from Melsia. Elsie coughed and sipped her tea, trying to hide behind her cup.

"Pleased to meet you, ladies," Anastasya said politely. "I was merely passing through but your Wisdom here ignited my curiosity." She bowed her head slightly towards Alanea. "She has what the Aes Sedai call the Spark. So do her two apprentices. That means that she can channel."

Her words were followed by a shocked silence, everyone's eyes turning to Alanea who looked like someone had bashed her with a frying pan.

"I have four apprentices," she managed to whisper, her eyes wide. She coughed and shook her head. "What I mean to say is, that is, I am not actually sure what you talking about. Aes Sedai do not lie. Anastasya Sedai, I am well over thirty. Surely the White Tower does not want me to become a novice? I am too old. And my apprentices, they are all over twenty, too old for you."

Anastasya suppressed a smile at the honest regret in the woman's voice.

"The age limit was lifted some time ago," she said calmly, meeting the woman's eyes. "The White Tower welcomes every woman who has the ability and the will to learn."

Alanea bit her lower lip in a fashion more suitable for a younger woman. She bowed her head and scrubbed her face vigourously.

"That is, ah, wonderful to hear," she said quietly, her voice full of emotion. "I am sorry, this is most embarrassing," she continued, straightening her back. Her cheeks were red and her eyes glistened wetly. The elderly women except Melsia were giving her a disapproving look. Alanea shot a challenging glare at them and they subsided.

"That is all well and good," Melsia said gravely, her eyes on Anastasya who forced herself to sit still under that scrutiny. "But what does this have to do with us?"

She said it in a way that told Anastasya that Melsia already knew what was coming. Melsia reminded Anastasya of Kalsia, a Sister who died of old age when Anastasya was a novice. Anastasya smiled thinly, meeting the old woman's eyes. The woman had to be her junior by several decades but it felt the other way around. Perhaps those without the ability to channel gained more wisdom with their years than those who had the ability. At least, their lives were fuller in some ways.

"My mission here is to find every woman with the ability and bring them to the White Tower," Anastasya said, bracing herself for whatever reaction she might receive. In some places the words she had just said caused people to panic and try to drive her away. In a few places they held pitchforks and torches when they did that.

Elsie gasped and jumped to her feet. Her chair toppled behind her.

"That is unacceptable," she almost shrieked. "We are not going to let you take our children away and turn them into witches!"

Her words rang in the sudden silence. Everyone turned to stare at Elsie who had clapped her hands over her mouth and was turning bright red. Melsia let out a long sigh that sounded far too forceful to come from her. "Elsie, out," she said so quietly that Anastasya barely heard her. Elsie shot a frightened look at Melsia and almost ran out of the tent. Then there was a long, uncomfortable silence.

"She's from Amador," one of the twins, Kari, said softly after a while. "She still had trouble adjusting her views. I don't think she means what she said. Her superstitions are just very deeply rooted in her. Forgive her, Aes Sedai. We will consider your offer."

Anastasya blinked, confused.

"My offer?" she blurted before she could catch herself. She did not blush, at least.

"Yes, you offered to test every girl and woman in the town and take them to the White Tower," the other twin, Jani, said.

"I most certainly did not," Anastasya said. Well, she tried to say. The words caught in her throat. Well, perhaps she had, indirectly.

"I remind you that this budding town of yours is in Tar Valon's area. It is important that you have the White Tower's goodwill," she said instead, going for some light intimidation. She wasn't certain she made the right impression but at least the women looked up, obviously a little bit startled.

"Be that as it may," Wera said, her voice high-pitched and sort of cute, "I am certain that you won't force the women to leave if they don't want to. You will have more success if the Women's Circle co-operates with you."

Anastasya tried not to fidget. Six pairs of eyes were boring right into her, expecting some sort of an answer.

"That is true," she finally managed to say, finding the proper angle to think about it. The Tower Law wasn't quite clear on it but the Aes Sedai usually did not force the women to join them unless they were unusually strong.

The women relaxed visibly, their worries eased by Anastasya's words.

"What will the White Tower do for us if we send our girls to be tested on their sixteenth nameday?" Nerica asked, her eyes sharp. Anastasya did not quite jump at hearing her thoughts voiced.

"Well, Healing services and protection at the very least," Anastasya said, thinking furiously. She could not very well promise anything on the Tower's behalf without consulting the Hall first.

The women glanced at each other and then at Anastasya.

"That is not very much for all the trouble," Nerica said, furrowing her brows. Anastasya thought the woman would have made a good lawyer.

"I must discuss this with the Tower Hall first," Anastasya said hastily. "I cannot promise much before consulting them. The towns around Tar Valon are always well-cared for so you don't have to worry about that, and if you decide to send your girls to be tested, well, you are going to be the White Tower's favourite town." She wanted to hide her face in her hands. She was slowly dying of embarrassment. Through her bond she could sense Kiril's obvious mirth at her discomfort.

"However, these are serious matters," Anastasya said, trying to restore her image. "Women could die while we are discussing these matters. I must insist on testing every woman in the town. Since Alanea has two apprentices that I haven't yet seen, I wish to start with them. They might be Sparkers like the other two and a danger to themselves and the others around them."

The women nodded slowly, not quite understanding what Anastasya meant but still worried. That was good to see. Anastasya wasn't certain her plan, whatever that was, was working but at least the women were taking her seriously.

"Very well," Alanea said finally. "I will fetch my apprentices here. I suppose we should start spreading the word that an Aes Sedai is in town and testing every willing woman. It might cause a stir or it might not. I don't know how the old beards will react to it. Men are often foolish when it comes to the issues of the Women's Circle, thinking that they can have their say in these things."

The other women nodded solemnly. Anastasya let out the breath she hadn't noticed she was holding.

"Thank you, ladies," she said, her face once again completely serene. They bowed their heads, accepting her gratitude.

"You can stay with me while you are here," Alanea said, dry-washing her hands. "Perhaps you can tell me about the White Tower and what to expect. I am definitely going to become a novice. I wanted to go as a girl but my parents didn't have any money to spare and I was apprenticed to old Hanna anyway."

She trailed away, looking regretful.

"I accept your offer," Anastasya said. "And perhaps I can tell you a little about what to expect." Alanea smiled radiantly.

The meeting adjourned shortly. Melsia ordered the other women to start spreading the word while she was going to take care of any trouble that might come out of it.

They would have done well in the White Tower, Anastasya decided while following Alanea to her lodging, answering the woman's questions politely without elaborating too much. They were just like experienced Sisters, working together to create something good and enduring. The world definitely needed more of their kind. Anastasya looked forward to working with them.


End file.
